Melissa had been in Oklahoma for 14 years when she felt God nudging her back to Texas. Her life up to that point had not been easy, and she was traveling with nothing: no furniture, few clothes, and no rent money. Melissa says, “Some people come on their knees, but I was basically on my belly saying, ‘now what?’” However, a family she knew kindly offered her a place to stay until she could get back on her feet, so she came.

She applied for a job right away, and on the drive home, she saw Grace Street Church. The signs for “Celebrate Recovery” and “Christian Women’s Job Corps” caught her eye. The director of the CWJC, Julie, was there. They talked and prayed about Melissa’s journey and job application.

Within a week, she had a interview and was hired on the spot. On her first day off, she went back to the church to give a few donations and tell Julie her good news.

Next, it was time to move to her own place. Melissa met for breakfast with the leader of Celebrate Recovery, Paulette. They prayed together about an apartment. Within a week, Melissa found a safe place within her budget, but all her money went towards the deposit and rent leaving nothing for furniture or household items.

So off they went to Mission Arlington. Melissa spent three hours there visiting with some of the other Grace Street ministers, getting some food, and kitchenware. When she had the key to her apartment, the Mission delivered a bed, dresser and couch.

Melissa says, “I had grown up thinking the Bible was something really nice that sat on the coffee table.” And church, she says, was standing up, kneeling and sitting at the right time. But now that she has seen the real purpose of the church, she says she knows God in a whole new way.

Now, Melissa is at the church almost every day for a service, Celebrate Recovery, or Bible Study. She encourages everyone who is struggling, “Go spend some time at the Mission. Go visit with people who know the Bible and who want to live a certain way.”

“The more that I’m around the people at Grace Street and the Mission, I know that I’m okay. That I’m safe.”