Raquel
Rescued, restored and soon to be realeased- thanks to you!
When she arrived at the Sparrow’s Nest in August 2008, Raquel had an agenda.
“I figured if I stayed long enough, they’d help me get housing and I’d be out of the Nest,” she admits. “But God put powerful women—Nest staff—in my path who saw what I wouldn’t acknowledge: I wasn’t there for housing; I was there to walk into what I was called to do.”
The process that led Raquel to the Nest began in 2006, after she divorced her adulterous husband. Unemployed, with no place to live, she “house hopped” from friend to friend. “I had no problems with alcohol or drugs, so I couldn’t understand why everything was happening,” she recalls.
After two years—with all other options exhausted—Raquel came to the Sparrow’s Nest, where she began to see how God was working in her life. After she showed kindness to another guest, the guest helped Raquel get a job. “All that time I’d looked for a job, I couldn’t find one,” she recounts. “I was in the Nest four days and got one; it was all in His plan.
"But God knew I’d save every penny and leave the Nest, so six months into it, He tells me to quit. I thought, ‘I’m not going to quit my job.’ But then I had no choice because I lost my bus pass to get to work. God shows me better than He can tell me.”
Raquel credits Nest staff with helping her face shortcomings like pride, anger, and distrust: “They made me take responsibility for my life and encouraged me to let God help me when I didn’t even want them helping me. It took a year, but I finally said, ‘If God’s all they say He is, then let Him go ahead and do all they say He’ll do.’” Still, she wanted to leave the Nest, so when God prompted her to pack her bags one night in late 2009, she obeyed.
Three weeks later, that move came—but not to a place of her own. Instead, she was asked to move to The Oaks, a then-new-to-Cherry-Street facility for women in the restoration phase of our Ready For Life program.
“The Oaks is where I learned to wait on God and discovered who I really am—an evangelist,” explains Raquel, who has started a ministry and is writing a book about her experiences. “I’ve been rescued and restored, and now I’m going to Abigail’s House to be released.” (Abigail’s House is Cherry Street’s transitional housing facility for women; closed months ago to cut costs, it recently reopened, thanks to a grant from the TIDES Foundation.)
“I thank Cherry Street for being a vessel God uses to call, provide for, and minister to His people.”
Your prayerful support provided Raquel the time she needed to wait on God and begin building a new life based on His will for her. On her behalf, we thank you.
