Dear Friends,
As we enter this season of Christmas, our hearts are reminded of the gift that God gave to each of us through His One Night, One Star, One Child. As you read the family story below, may you feel our personal message of hope and gratitude to each of you for joining God’s mission and ministry at House of Hope, York.
Lyla and her family’s journey at House of Hope began in June of 2016. Fast forward to November 2017, to find Lyla reconnected with her family, living at home again, and keeping the faith alive that was ignited during her 15 month stay at House of Hope. Her stepfather, Bobby, shares their God journey below.
“The program helps the girls, but more importantly, restores the whole family.”
“The night my wife and I brought home our second child was a night that changed our world. Normally, this would have been a great time of joy; however, it is also the night we discovered our eldest daughter, Lyla, was troubled, mixed up with the wrong crowd at school, and heading down a dark path. To be fair, her mother and I had many problems early in our marriage, and Lyla’s biological father was not involved in her life. All of this was very difficult for her to grasp and understand. Methods of dealing with the pain turned into attempts at running away, social media obsession, police incidents, stays at several outpatient facilities, and overdose attempts. These were the only choices that Lyla felt existed. It was then God showed us that His plans for Lyla and our family included House of Hope. We were ecstatic to find out there was such a place so close to home! We enrolled Lyla in the program where she lived during the week and came home on weekends. House of Hope offers an on-site school “Hope Academy”, where Lyla was able to thrive and improve her academic levels. The house rules taught Lyla self control and responsibility for her actions and behavior. Lyla was not thrilled to go there at first, but quickly realized that it was necessary. House of Hope involved our whole family, as my wife and I each had our own weekly individual counseling, in addition to weekly parenting classes. Parents must be willing to put in the work to make this successful endeavor.
After more than 14 months in the program, our family is now in the “Home Phase”. Lyla has returned home with us while continuing weekly counseling. I believe we are closer as a family than we ever have been. We still have plenty of work to do as we continue to learn and implement positive changes into our daily lives. We have recently brought our third child into this world, and Lyla is an awesome big sister! She is completing her school online with a charter school, and we are excited to share that she is doing extremely well. Over the past year and a half Lyla has grown up in many ways, and we could not be more proud of her. We are thankful and blessed by the work God is doing through House of Hope.”
Because of One Night, One Star, One Child… There is Hope!
During my time at House of Hope, my relationship with God began to grow. I was saved when I was young, but I didn’t know how to put it into action until I saw God’s love through House of Hope. I now have my first job, and my grades are straight A’s, and a B in math. I love being home, sharing the love of Jesus with others, and attending my church youth group. I could not have done any of this without God, my family, and House of Hope!” ~ Lyla
Join God in His mission of family restoration.
Partner with us to reach our year-end goal.
Raise $30,000 by December 31, 2017.
*All giving is tax-deductible and all donations go directly to the House of Hope ministry.
“And now these three things remain: faith, hope, and love …”
~1 Corinthians 13:13
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