One Girl’s True Story

JAIL BREAK: THE STORY OF A FORMER CRIMINAL’S DAUGHTER

This testimony is from Elizabeth, a member of Street Level Ministries in Menomonie.

To share my story, I first have to dig a little bit into my dad’s. He found Christ on the floor of a jail cell after a series of events that included my mother claiming to have had a child that was his. At first my dad automatically dismissed the notion because he thought she was disloyal, regardless of their marriage. After all, it was primarily based on helping her gain residency in the United States after emigrating from Mexico. At least, that’s how my father saw things until a family friend named Brenda came into the picture. She was furious that my dad would think so low of his wife, so she took the last of his money, about $600, and paid for a DNA test. Lo and behold, I turned out to be his, and it changed his life from there on out. He realized raising a child was beyond his ability, and he cried out to God for help, finally accepting Christ into his heart. His prayers were answered and thus began my story.

I was saved at a Bible camp in Wisconsin. One night, a speaker shared his story of falling into the sin of watching porn and masturbation. It resonated deeply with me as I was experiencing the same addiction he described, which terribly affected my mental health. Towards the end of his message, all the camp counselors lined up against the stage to pray over those who wanted to be set free from their cycle of sexual sin. I was severely convicted but also terrified of what my peers would think. If I walked up there, they would know that I was dirty, unclean, and not the “pure girl” I portrayed. Though fear still had my heart, God pulled it forward anyway. He told me that my confession, a sacrifice of my deeply set pride, would have to mean something.

For that to happen, I had to tell someone I cared about, so I found my camp counselor, Morgan. I spilled my long-kept secret, ashamed of all I had done. But instead of disgust, she met me with loving arms and immediately began to pray over me. Instantly I felt this weight taken from my chest, as if a truck had been lifted off, and found I could breathe easier than I ever had before. That was my first true experience of Jesus’ love and grace.

My passion for telling the world about Jesus grew from there, but I struggled to help my mom see Him for who He was: Healer, Redeemer, Savior. I couldn’t help her as much as I hoped. I knew so little about sharing the truth with love while still figuring out how to forgive the hurt I held against her. Since then, that has been a relationship I have been trying to mend.

Today I am majoring in Arts Administration and Entrepreneurship and hope to assist a Christ-centered non-profit someday or even start my own. With each step of my journey, God has blessed me with a faith family everywhere I go: from my time in Minnesota with a close friend, to my in-state National Guard deployment in Madison and Milwaukee for the COVID pandemic, and now at UWStout. Here in Menomonie, I have found an addition to that family in Street Level Ministries and am serving with their Word on the Street Magazine. I aim to continue maturing my natural gifts to better serve and love those around me to give glory to God, who made all of this possible. This life is wonderful and continuously developing, and I get to do it all with my Savior and best friend, Jesus Christ.