A Fire-Starter Heart For BJM Grows in Illinois
Read a testimony from a young, thirteen-year-old girl that God is prompting to invest in Because Justice Matters from across America:
My name is Layla and I live in a small town in central Illinois. All my life, my Aunt Gabby has been my role model. Anything she wanted to do, I wanted to do. Anything she was passionate about, I wanted to care about as well! I was really sad when she moved out to San Francisco to work with Because Justice Matters, but it makes my heart so happy to hear about the women and girls that are being saved by God’s grace there. I love hearing stories about all the crazy stuff Jesus does in people’s daily lives out in San Francisco! Ever since then, I’ve had a heart to travel to SF to see the change BJM is making.
During the summer of 2015, I had plans to go visit my Aunt Gabby out in the city. That trip changed my life. It opened my eyes to girls who were living completely opposite lives of me. It broke my heart to hear the stories of what these women and girls were going through. All I wanted to do was help.
Last semester, I found out that I had to do a 9 week project in my Language Arts class about something I was passionate about, and these girls were the only thing I could think about. I wanted to help in some way, and I wanted to do so from my small town in Illinois. After a few days of thinking, I decided that I was going to try and raise whatever money I could to go to The Well, where they hold dance classes. I ended up having a fundraiser at a Midwestern restaurant called Culver’s and they donated a percentage of whatever money they made that night. I had my mom, my grandma, and 3 of my close friends help me volunteer there. I ended up raising $300! I’m so excited to see what that money can do all the way out in San Francisco!
This is just one inspiring story of a young girl who didn’t know exactly what she could do — but knew that she had to do something. Layla’s courageous steps to invest her time, her energy and her heart into her passions challenge us to ask ourselves what our passions — our treasures — are and how God might be inviting us to partner with Him in His Kingdom work. Small steps of obedience and being faithful with what God is asking us to do can have huge ripple effects in eternity!