Newsletter Story: Happy Graduation, Stephanie!
We are so blessed to walk alongside our residents as they grow as children of God, maintain stable employment, and successfully integrate back into society with Jesus in the driver’s seat. Earlier this month, we had the true honor of celebrating one of our most inspiring residents, Stephanie, and her graduation from our program. A couple weeks ago, our intern Caitlin interviewed Stephanie about her journey, and we’ve included her story below. We hope you are as encouraged by Stephanie as we are.
Stephanie grew up in the Dallas, Texas area. Before she ended up in prison, she described her old life as, “terrible. I was a mean person. I wasn’t trustworthy. My outlook on things and people was terrible. I didn’t have any trust or belief in nobody.” She was walking without the Lord in her life, and her mistakes and sin led to her serving 25 years in prison. During her time in prison, the Lord rescued Stephanie from her wrong-doings and disobedience. She learned what it meant to truly follow God and began going to church and praying to Him frequently. She received a Bible and it became her “sword and shield”. She used God's Word to study the book of Job. She further explained, “Job is my favorite bible verse. Because after everything, he never lost his faith in God. When I went to prison, I lost everything, but I didn’t lose my faith in God.”
When she was approved for parole in 2016, she started out at a transitional facility in the Austin area because she knew if “[she] went back to Dallas, the chances was that it wasn’t going to be good for [her].” She knew she needed a new place to start her life. Towards the beginning of her stay there, she told us, “Texas Reach Out came into ATC and the first person who I saw was David [Peña]. I remember he had this canary yellow, long-sleeved shirt. And he spoke and said a lot of really good things that captured my attention because there was a lot of distraction around. But, for some reason, God wanted me to sit on the front row so I could hear what David had to say. So, I was lured to the front by the Lord to really listen.” The Holy Spirit moved through David that day and spoke directly to Stephanie. She immediately applied to TROM and heard back 2 weeks later that she had been accepted.
Stephanie vividly remembers Margie Peña picking her up: “I loaded all my things in [the van] and got to get acquainted with Margie. She is so nice. She said, ‘congratulations first of all, and welcome to Texas Reach Out’, she was very welcoming, loving, and caring. She was like a mother. She bought my first meal from Church’s Chicken. She brought me to the house and said to me, ‘this is your home and the Lord loves you’. She introduced me to the other ladies that were in the house. They welcomed me and showed me around. They were being sisters to me.”
During the 5 years she called TROM her home, we have seen Stephanie flourish, become a leader in the homes, and a stronger woman of God. She described her time at TROM as, “a huge learning experience. I learned how to be more patient and how to let go and let God come into my life and take over. Without Him, none of this could have been possible. I give Him all the honor, glory, and praise in my life because without Him it just couldn't have been possible for me. He has been moving tremendously in my life. He’s amazing.” We could not be more thrilled to see Stephanie graduate and celebrate her success! Stephanie moved into her own apartment in Austin and is still involved in her church community.
