-By Erika Montez

In our denomination I have met so many people that have always been in church. They were raised by strong Christian families; often generations of it. Then there are people like me. I grew up in an unchurched family. My mother’s family is Mormon and my father went from wanting to be a pastor to never attending church. I had a childhood full of abuse, trauma, and neglect. I went to the occasional VBS that was used as babysitting. However, I had no idea how this man Jesus applied to me or what he did for me.

Then, at 17, I met a young man that bought me my very first Bible and took me to church. I walked into a church that was teaching what Jesus did for me and why. I started following Jesus that day and never stopped. A year later I married that man. I had no idea what my Lord and Savior had in store for me. 25 years later I would never have imagined that I would be a pastor’s wife. I would have never imagined He would lead me 1500 miles away from Southern California to College Station where there were 5 members and no children’s ministry. I would have never imagined that He would ask me to leave teaching at public school and volunteer to start a school at the church.

That’s the thing about walking in faith and obedience. We could never imagine the things that Jesus can make happen. Yet, so often we stand in our own way instead of trusting the one that created us. We just finished our first year of school. We are doubling in size next year and have a waitlist. We had no idea what this would become. We say it takes a village to raise a child and that is exactly what we have become. Daily I get to give these children the foundation that I didn’t have. Only Jesus can redeem and heal in that way.