Sherrie and Israel | A Story of Transformation
Love In The Name of Christ is a place where neighbors in need are given, not only the immediate items required to sustain life, but also abundant love, support, and encouragement.
Neighbors new to the ministry will be given items of physical need such as clothes or furniture, and they also are encouraged to sign up for classes that promote social and spiritual growth while they continue to earn vouchers for necessary items of daily living. What Love INC offers is HOPE and HELP for building a better future and a profoundly important PLACE in the family of God.
Sherrie and Israel
Sherrie and Israel , mother and son, came to Love INC several years ago. Sherrie credits her mother's strong and inspired faith as the foundation of her own faith through the years. Sherrie was born with several health issues, needed surgeries and then speech therapy. She remembers being bullied both by her siblings and other students at school. She started working at the age of 15 and helping to raise her nieces, then took various jobs to continue earning instead of going to college as she had hoped.
Sherrie was married and gave birth to Israel who was premature and only weighed 1 pound and 12 ounces.
He had a very difficult start in life, his heart stopped beating, and he stopped breathing 3 times before he received corrective surgery and was stabilized enough to go home for good. Sherrie remembers praying for Israel while he was undergoing surgery and noticing on tv a story that showed Jesus healing a little boy. This gave her peace and confidence that Israel would be okay. As he continued to develop and grow, doctors were amazed at how well he was doing. After Sherrie's marriage ended, her dad was able to take care of Israel during the hours when Sherrie worked. Life was still a struggle with her many and increasing health issues, and very long hours at Reynolds Plastics where she worked on the swing shift. Sherrie is a remarkable woman, determined to always do her best for Israel and to let nothing keep her down for long. In spite of her multiple health conditions she never complains and always continues to persevere.
Israel always loved learning and did very well academically.
He finished high school and graduated from the prestigious culinary school, Johnson and Wales. Unfortunately, some skills of time, space, and distance were affected by the TBI (traumatic brain injury) suffered during the first year of his life, so as a result he is not able to drive a car, or to practice his first love of restaurant cooking. For some time he was not able to find a job.
Finally, through Gordon Miller, the pastor of the church they were attending, they found much needed help with housing issues and resources to help Israel find and keep a job. Pastor Gordon introduced Sherrie to Sharon Flory at Love INC and she was able to assist with finding resources for Israel through DARS and they also provided a link to Christian Housing for help with the housing issues.
As Sherrie and Israel became more involved in the Loving Your Neighbor program, they began attending church more regularly, started attending LYN classes and Bible Studies.
When they began, Israel was very shy and would barely speak in class. Now he is much more outgoing and participates regularly in class discussions and a regular small group that meets every other Sunday for food and fellowship. He has hopes and dreams for finding an even better job in the future as a Spanish interpreter.
As their lives have become more stable, Sherrie has also been growing in leadership skills. Recently she took over when the leader of their small group was out of town. She hosted the group at her own home and did a wonderful job of leading the class. Her wisdom and leadership are obvious to all. She has been asked to serve on the Neighbor advisory committee to the LYN program.