Pray as if everything depended upon God and work as if everything depended upon man.

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Testimonial by Andraya Clark

It all started when I was young. I didn’t have a care in the world, everything was great. I lived with my mom, my dad, my older brother, and my younger sister. Everything was fine until one morning I woke up to find my mother missing; she was gone. I called, cried and begged her to come back. But after a year of pleading with her I knew she wasn’t coming back.

Growing up with my dad and being the oldest girl in the house wasn’t easy. I was expected to take on the responsibility of being a mom, do all the cleaning, help with the cooking, and make sure my sister wasn’t in any trouble. And on top of all of that I had to get good grades in school. A lot of weight was on my shoulders.

Then one summer I went to Trinity Lutheran Day Camp and I met Robert James Freeman. He was my counselor and he soon became my best friend. Our friendship grew with each summer that I attended day camp. He taught me how to enjoy life, how to take life one step at a time, that it’s ok for me to be a kid, and most of all that God loves me.

Everything in my life seemed to be going well until November 19, 2005 when Robert died in a car accident.

After hearing that news, I thought to myself – “Why God? You took my mother away from me, you took my best friend who was like a brother to me, and you have left me all alone.” I became depressed and started doing stuff I wouldn’t normally do. I became a cutter and tried to even commit suicide.

But by the grace of God, one day it just hit me as I was reading my bible, “I am never alone, God is always with me.” Wherever I go and whatever I go through, He is standing right there to walk with me and help me through it.

I can honestly say that out of the past 2 years, I have only cut myself once. Since I became more committed in my faith, I have found my way to Urban Impact. My brother and sister were at Urban Impact 2 years ago. I started coming the fall of 2007. Being a part of Urban Impact, I’ve matured more in my faith by learning that It doesn’t matter what you have done, it matters what you are doing now to glorify God with your life.

So if you are holding back because you feel like God can’t fix your situation or that you could never be more than you are right now, you are wrong. God is sovereign over all and He can do all things including letting you know that you’re never alone.

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