STORIES

Mykenna's Story

​​I was your average teenager in ways, angry with God for letting my family fall apart, letting my mom fall into a pit of addiction leaving a trail of pain for all of us to try and pick up the pieces behind her.  Somewhere along the way, I found my own seeming comfort in various addictive drugs and drink, all the while a pure hate was brewing in my heart.  My mind was over thrown with ill intentions and thoughts leading down dark roads.  After years of this, my anger became explosive.   

I found myself with 3 different time sentences on 3 different charges, 2 of which were considered violent and 1 of which was violating a protection order. Without going into too much detail on those, I was looking at a couple years in what we call a juvenile prison or “lock down” detention center where I would eventually encounter Southern Colorado YFC for the first time.   

Prior to my incarceration I was studying and re-writing the LaVey Satanic Bible and considered myself to be Satan’s future bride, my knuckles tattooed with 666 as a sign of that commitment.  God reached out to me even still through a YFC mentor, a real genuine woman who visited me every week she could to point me to the truths about God.  I slowly started to realize I had everything backwards.  I was blaming God for my suffering and praising Satan for anything good to come my way! I now see Satan for who he REALLY is and get to see God’s love for me in operation every day.  How many miracles have I missed?  How many blessings have gone unrecognized?  I may never know for sure but what I do know and can say with the utmost confidence is that God can and will have His way with our hearts if only we give Him the chance. For me, that meant giving up all my stubborn seemingly accurate beliefs that I once firmly stood upon, to grab ahold of the truly solid ground one finds only through God, our Father and Creator, the King of Kings and Prince of Peace.   

My story goes on years later as I now get to be a mentor with YFC and go to Bible School at NCC to “gear up” for whatever opportunities God sends my way!  God has blessed me with a loving husband and son; we excitedly wait for the arrival of our second child in a few months as God also showers us with all the blessings in between, satisfying our every need!  No need too great or too small.  And do I deserve any of it because of who I am or how I changed? No, but because of who Jesus is and all He went through, by the love and grace of God, I get to live and thrive far past who I once was. Thank you Father for Your works and for the people of YFC!  Thank you for giving me my mentor and friend, Denise. All praise and glory be to God!”  

Mykenna

Dustin's Story

My husband and I volunteered for SOCO YFC by visiting youth and sharing our story with youth who were in a facility here in Colorado Springs. Our story is one of Hope! God saved us and our marriage, brought us out of the pit of using drugs, stealing, and all kinds of awful stuff. Afterwards, we were led to volunteer. 

We are blessed to be still in contact with one of the young men we visited with. Dustin is 38 now and we still talk once or twice a week. Dustin shares often with me about how cool it was that we would come and talk to them about Christ, that we would share about how ”bad” we used to be, and the hope that is in Christ with grace and compassion. We have a very close relationship with him.

Dustin made some really bad choices starting at age 8, his family gave him up soon after and he was incarcerated. His family had nothing to do with him, he was all alone in a very scary place. He also suffers from NF-1, which is a rare and awful disease.

While he was in a facility, he felt God abandoned him. He started believing there was  no God. He said when we first started coming to visit and share about the Lord he couldn’t believe there was somebody who cared enough to show up and spend time with him. He is now a firm believer in Christ and reconciled with his family a couple of years after his release at the age of 18. He is now a wonderful, caring, hard-working young man, who just got his first apartment. We are so proud of him.

If God is prompting you to get involved with SOCO YFC, listen to Him! You will be blessed and will bless youth who desperately need you.

Chris & Bea

Thomas's Story

​Being raised by parents who were gang members, Thomas was involved in gangs at a very early age. It was only normal to follow in the footsteps of his parents. A Police Officer told me that he didn’t put handcuffs on many seven-year-olds but he did on Thomas.

After meeting Thomas, I asked him why he wanted a Coach/Mentor. He replied, “What I am doing isn’t working.” In the first few months of meeting together, Thomas made a commitment to Christ, did Bible Study, memorized at least 15 verses, and faithfully spent time with God. He shared with me one of the values of memorizing scripture was when he would be faced with an issue, a verse he had memorized would come to mind, giving him direction in handling the issue.

At this time a series of conflicts happened in his life and he became explosively angry. As a result of his angry emotion he asked to stop meeting. Though I knew this was a time we should meet to process what was happening, I told him O.K. but I’m available if he should want to talk or continue our meeting. He thanked me and we parted.

About a month and a half later he saw me and asked if we could start meeting again. So we did and he was able to get back to meeting his goals and growing in his relationship with Christ. One of his goals was to get to another facility where he could be in a high school setting and play football. That goal was accomplished and he was transferred. A couple months later I found out that that school was coming to Colorado Springs to play football against a local High School. I went to the game. He was surprised to see me there but was excited to inform me that he had not gotten in any trouble since being up there. He also assured me that he was still in the Word and Praying. 

Lyle

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Poem by Thomas

​This life I’m livin was bound for a purpose
Blamin the devil for my people hurting
Fightin the curses prayin in churches
Call me the bible but only 1 version
Don’t give up your will like some sort of virgin
Open the curtains the serpent is lurking
Don’t sell your soul no matter the purchase
Your fate is not certain
Stuck in this cell just writin these verses
Don’t call it paradise, when your constantly burning.
Your insides are turning
Life is a lesson we’re all tryna learn.

​To all the dead homies, I’m livin within
Never forgotten, I’m keepin it lit
​ Pray for forgiveness, I keep it legit

Negative critics they stay in my biz
Drug dealers and pimps don’t know how to live
They got one goal and its to get rich
No matter the cost they willing to risk
Another trip to the grave cause the homie got hit
Funeral plans for someone so young
Open casket drugs was a habit
Livin so painful just reopen the havoc
Livin so lavish, livin the fastest,
Ending our life with material objects.
Redemption is near now reach out and grab it
Savin the poor from livin in famine
Unravel the history heaven and hell
Angels and demons to me is a mystery
Dreaming of ecstasy.

PRAYERS

Micaela's Prayer

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Depression is like war, either we win or die trying…people ask me what it is like dealing with depression, I tell them it’s like drowning except you get to watch everyone else around you still breathing.  My eyes used to shine so bright, now all that can be seen is my cold dark story; feeling like nothing and no one can save me.  I pray to a God I am not certain I believe in, but I pray that tomorrow I wake and continue my battle, because, remember…depression is like a war…either you win or die trying.

(Micaela is young teen who was sold into trafficking at a very young age and struggles with depression.)

Daniel's Prayer

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I am asking that you pray for me as I need God’s strength.  My mind tells me to end my life, I can’t stand being away from the people I love…it seems there is no reason to live anymore.  I need God’s strength.

(Physically and mentally abused, Daniel constantly battles depression and struggles with suicidal thoughts,) 

Lisa's Prayer

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Father, I pray for comfort as I leave everything I have ever known to what I hope will be a new life of happiness and freedom.  It’s going to be scary for me to step out of jail (which has been my home) into a life where there will be many obstacles and people who will try to bring me down.  I pray that I can forgive all those from my past who I need to forgive in order to move on and be successful in this new chapter of life.

(Lisa's dad is in prison; her mom is a meth addict…she lived on the streets from a very young age. This picture was drawn by her while incarcerated at a youth facility.)

Dorien's Prayer

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I  just turned 16 years old, and I've been in the Department of Youth Services system since I was 10.  My dad left when I was young and I lost mom when I was 14...I didn't even get to say "good-bye" to her because I was in jail.    

​I don't know where I will go when I'm released, I have no family ... I just know I don't want to come back to jail. 

(Dorien is out now, but struggles with what he believes and how to go forward. Releasing the past is hard, please pray for him.)

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