Meet our sweet Leanna

​Hope and Future Ministries celebrating 15 years of serving incarcerated women and guiding them into real Freedom!!
 
Matthew 25:35-36
For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.
 
This Scripture was lived out these past two weeks. It is such an honor to be the hands and feet of Jesus!  She thought she was just coming for a book and a back pack. But God had bigger plans for her life!
 
We met Leanna in our weekly Bible study at the jail 2 months ago. Every week we hand out flyers at the jail that explain the services we provide: backpacks filled with toiletries and necessities, help with release planning, and resources in the local community. Leanna approached me after the jail service and asked if she could get one of our Bible study books, The 12 seeds. I replied, “When you get out of jail, call me and I will make sure you get a book.” Once she was released from jail, back out on the streets she went! A few days later Leanna called us and left a message on our answering machine. She asked for a back pack and she still wanted the book we had promised her.
 
We were so very excited to get that call! I met with her and gave her a back pack and the book we had promised her.  I then remembered she was 8 months pregnant and asked her where she was living. She said she was living on the streets. Oh, my heart! I asked her all the important questions: are you ready to get off the streets? Would you be willing to go into a housing program or a shelter? She said, “Yes, I need a safe place to be to have my baby in July!”  
 
We were able to provide temporary housing at our ministry home while we helped her apply for housing programs for pregnant moms. She had absolutely nothing. We took her to Walmart that evening and bought her some clothes. Leanna picked out a cute dress to wear to church. She was hungry and we fed her. And boy she was eating for two, so we needed extra food. We took her shopping and she bought more food. All the things she liked. I was so excited to take her to church. We planted seeds and we loved on her! The pastor’s messages seemed to be just for her!
 
A few days later Leanna was accepted into the OnTrack Mom’s Program for pregnant women. We are so very thankful she's off the streets and in a safe place to prepare to have her baby boy the first week in July. Leanna said she will be naming her baby after he is born.
 
Who knows, he could be the next Billy Graham or the next apostle Paul! God has such a wonderful plan for their lives and I am so grateful for the Divine encounter from the Lord. I believe with all my heart that God brought Leanna to us.
 
When she left for her new housing, we joked and said, “You thought you were just coming for a book and a back pack but God had other plans for your life!”  We prayed over Leanna and the baby. We are believing for a complete miracle in her life.
 
This was Matthew 25 coming to life! We brought her in our home, we fed her, we clothed her and we loved on her and we went to see her in jail! We gave her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And planted seeds of Hope!
 
Please continue to pray for Leanna and her baby and that God would completely deliver her. In Jesus name, Amen.

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