Visit www.gilgalbluejeangala.org to access a recording of this year’s livestream, as well as an archive of the 2020 Blue Jean Gala.
Change Happens at Gilgal Because God’s Love Never Fails.
“The life of an addict and prostitute brings with it a lot of shame and guilt. Yet throughout my time in the Gilgal program, I have never known so much love and support from total strangers. Gilgal staff, volunteers and donors who didn’t even know me accepted me unconditionally.” Abby L. (2020 Gilgal Graduate)
My name is Abby L., and I am a 2021 Gilgal graduate. I first shared my testimony at the 6th Annual Blue Jean Gala in October 2020. At that time, I had been at Gilgal for only a few short months.
I learned about Gilgal while at the crisis stabilization unit. After years of homelessness, drug abuse and prostitution, I had finally reached rock bottom. I needed a long-term recovery program, however, every call was a dead-end. They either turned me down because of my suicide attempt, didn’t answer the phone, had no beds available, or cost too much. My caseworker said she couldn’t find a place for me, and I had to leave in three days. I knew I couldn’t go back to the streets and needed God’s help. I asked if she knew of a Christian-based program and she said, “Yes. Let me make a call.” That afternoon I was on the phone with Ms. Deborah and accepted at Gilgal.
Check out this video from Abby during our 2020 Blue Jean Gala
I’m happy to say I completed the program in September and feel like I am living for the first time. I’ve been reunited with my three children – ages 4, 14 and 19. I am also back in touch with my immediate and extended family. After graduation I was able to attend my brother Ryan’s wedding and am enjoying precious time with my dad who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. I’m grateful to Gilgal for making these priceless moments possible.
Last Thanksgiving, I was a resident of Gilgal and away from family. And while the COVID lockdown prevented me from going home on pass, I enjoyed one of the best Thanksgivings ever with my Gilgal sisters and staff. It was a special day full of love and fellowship which I will never forget.
I can honestly say that Gilgal was one of the hardest and greatest things I’ve ever done. My experience there was transformational. I was a loner for so long and didn’t know how to interact with people. The life of an addict and prostitute brings with it a lot of shame and guilt. Yet throughout my time in the program, I have never known so much love and support from total strangers. Gilgal staff, volunteers and donors who didn’t even know me accepted me unconditionally.
I also learned how to set goals for my future, live with integrity and maintain structure and healthy boundaries. I got my ID back, secured a job at CKS Packaging and opened a checking/savings account. I am still employed at CKS and was recently promoted. My Gilgal training on interpersonal relationships and emotional well-being has been invaluable on my job and at home.
“I can honestly say that Gilgal was one of the hardest and greatest things I’ve ever done. My experience there was transformational.“
Abby L. pictured here with her younger brother Ryan L.
This Thanksgiving I am looking forward to being with family at my brother Jake’s house. My sixth-grade niece said she is so happy to have the family all back together. I can’t wait! I am even bringing a special Brussels sprout dish that Ms. Sara taught me to make last Thanksgiving.
If I could give advice to anyone coming behind me it would be to trust God and the process. Gilgal offers all of us a chance to live life for the first time. We’ve been running and trying to escape what haunts us. Unfortunately, we chose drugs to cope. But Gilgal exists for us to be still and find peace with God. We don’t have to run anymore or make up any excuses to accept the person we used to be. This is our chance to learn and grow. It’s like a college education mixed with a vacation. You get to literally remake yourself. So, when you graduate and walk out that door, you’re better equipped with God and lasting friendships.
Sometimes it is overwhelming to think about the amazing people who love me and invest so much in Gilgal. I am so grateful for the volunteers and partners that poured into me on a weekly basis. Even during the pandemic, they still faithfully served. They never gave up on me and it motivated me not to give up on myself. Today I know that my dreams are possible. Please pray for me as I take each new step to live them out.
Change Happens at Gilgal. Thank you for being a part of it!
Watch our 7th Annual Blue Jean Gala to get an update from Abby and her family. Change Happens because God’s Love Never Fails!
Join us in congratulating Amelia W. for her successful completion of the Transformations @ Gilgal program. Way to go Amelia! We are so proud of you and can’t wait to see where God takes you next!
Thank you to everyone who invested in Amelia and helped her reach this milestone. We know it is only the beginning. Please pray for her as she continues to walk out the plans God has for her.
Change Happens at Gilgal because God’s Love Never Fails! Thank you for being a part of it and helping Amelia dream again!
“I am extremely grateful to God, the Gilgal staff, volunteers and faithful partners who make it possible for women like me to dream again. God’s love never fails.”
Hi! My name is Veronica D. You may remember my video with Chesley McNeil last year as we were preparing for Gilgal’s 6th Annual Blue Jean Gala.
Check out this video from Veronica and Chesley promoting our 2020 Blue Jean Gala
At the time, we were both excited about the ministry’s first ever virtual event. I was also looking forward to my upcoming graduation. I’m thrilled to say I did graduate from Gilgal in September of 2020 and my life has never been better!
I can’t wait to see what God has in store this year for Gilgal’s 7th Annual Blue Jean Gala. I hope that people will be inspired by the stories from other women like me and see what their giving really means. Without Gilgal, I don’t know where I’d be today.
I struggled with crack cocaine for about 10 years until God delivered me more than 20 years ago. I stayed on the straight and narrow for a while, but eventually began drinking. I abused alcohol for about 10 years and found myself court ordered to rehab for a year. God was faithful and restored so much that my addiction took away. However, I slowly left Him and returned to heavy drinking. Soon after that, my life spiraled out of control, and after 5 DUIs, I lost everything – including my driving privileges and registered nursing license. That’s why I came to Gilgal. It was there that I learned to make God the center of my life and found real transformation through a personal love relationship with Him.
After graduating from Gilgal, I moved to my hometown of Philadelphia and was reunited with family. I started attending church regularly and continued the process of piecing my life back together. Over the past year, God has restored my nursing license and given me a job at the hospital of my choice. I also had my driver’s license reinstated and had my final court date, which by God’s grace went favorably due to my completion of the Gilgal program. I am now taking classes to earn my master’s degree in nursing and currently on the dean’s list.
I am blessed to say that the Gilgal staff remain a huge part of my network and spiritual family. I currently teach a weekly relapse prevention class (virtually) for the residents of Gilgal. I am also passionate about growing the alumni program. I want to give back to the ministry that gave so much to me.
Many of the teachings and spiritual disciplines I learned at Gilgal I still continue to practice daily. In the near future, I will be starting a ministry to serve the homeless population here in the Philly area. I plan to share the unfailing love of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Thank you for being a part of my transformation. I am eternally grateful to the Gilgal staff, volunteers and faithful partners who make this ministry possible. Because of your support, women like me can find a safe place to heal and dream again.
Change Happens at Gilgal because God’s love never fails.
Join us in congratulating Abby L. and Latoya A. for their successful completion of the Transformations @ Gilgal program. These incredible women join our class of 2021 Gilgal grads! Way to go Abby and Latoya! We are so proud of you!
Thank you to everyone who supported them along the way. Every prayer and every donation of time, talent and resources helped them achieve this major milestone. Please continue to pray for them as they take each new step into the plans and future God has prepared for them.
Change Happens at Gilgal because God’s Love Never Fails! Thank you for being a part of it!
Mark Your Calendars and Make Plans to Attend
On Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 6:30 pm Gilgal will host its 7th Annual Blue Jean Gala. This is a virtual event hosted by Kia, our presenting sponsor for the 7th year in a row! The theme for the evening is “Love Never Fails” and you’ll hear first-hand from clients, staff, volunteers and partners about the change that is happening at Gilgal because of God’s unfailing love.
So mark your calendars and make plans to host your own watch party. Details are coming soon! Visit www.gilgalbluejeangala.org for updates and to access a recording of last year’s livestream.
Change Happens at Gilgal Because God’s Love Never Fails.
STAY CONNECTED:
Be sure to follow us on social media and sign up for our online newsletter to keep current on all that is happening at Gilgal. You can also visit: www.womenofgilgal.org to sign up for our email newsletter or to contact one of our team members.
In honor of Mother’s Day, we wanted to share a special update from Gilgal graduate Jennifer H. and her mom Denise. Jennifer’s story represents just one family impacted by the journey through Gilgal. Change Happens at Gilgal because a mother’s Love Never Fails!
Jennifer: “Sometimes I feel like Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. My life went from being cozy and comfortable to life-threatening chaos and misadventure, and back again. Mine was a happy and secure childhood. It was wonderful. The beautiful relationship I had always enjoyed with my parents continued into adulthood. Addiction, however, is a destroyer of many things — hopes, dreams, careers, and families. As I became more and more dependent on alcohol to meet my every need, I started shutting out everyone, including my parents, and even God. For years, most of the time I was too drunk or hungover to call or visit as my life turned into a sad existence consisting of little more than drinking and working. Eventually, I drank myself out of my job and my apartment and just assumed my parents would help me as they had before. In other words, I used them. In October 2018, as I faced another eviction, I was shocked and dismayed when my plea for help did not get the result I was expecting. I ended up homeless. I physically felt like I had been slapped in the face and kicked in the stomach. I had never felt so hurt and rejected in my life.
But, through this and many other dark times in my life, Jesus was holding my right hand through it all. He held me through being homeless on the streets of Atlanta, through six weeks at an Atlanta homeless shelter, through Gilgal’s program of recovery, and miraculously, back into my parents’ arms! While at Gilgal, Jesus showed me the way out of the grips of addiction and into healthy relationships with others, including my parents. I started calling my mother again and wrote a long letter to my dad apologizing for all the pain I caused. After graduating from Gilgal in March of 2020, I continued my job while renting a small room in Riverdale. I was tickled pink to even be on speaking terms with my parents. God had bigger plans. One fine night I was talking to my dad and he said, “Your mother and I think you’ve paid your dues and should move in with us.” I almost dropped the phone!
I moved in with them in July and the months since have been such a sweet time spent catching up with them. As I write this, I’m nearly two and a half years sober and my days are spent helping my parents around the house and chasing after the puppy. I’m still awaiting the reinstatement of my RN, but that will happen in God’s perfect timing. I am truly blessed beyond imagination!
Denise: I’m Denise, Jennifer’s mom. I had two little girls and was determined to be the best mom I could be. I came from a family that did not have many hugs, kisses, or support. My girls were, in my view, angels. They never got into any trouble, were great students, and were always either studying or at dance or majorette practice. I never worried about them. My girls were raised on Christian values.
After Jennifer left the nest, I had no idea she was drinking as much as she was. As time went on and life happened, she went through a bad marriage and many other trials and drama that pushed her further into addiction. She became more and more distant from her family. She would call less and less, and eventually was calling only when she needed something — usually money. It was awful for the whole family. Her dad and I had been seeing a counselor in an attempt to get some control over the situation. The advice was to walk away. Ultimately, Jennifer ended up on the streets. The holidays were especially difficult. I love the holidays and have always enjoyed that time to spend with family. Jennifer not being home for them left a huge, sad cloud over every event. I missed her and felt like she had rejected us and hated us. I’m sure she felt the same about us.
God got her to Gilgal and showed her the way out of this darkness. During that time, she started calling us again when she wasn’t loading trucks at work anymore. After she graduated, her dad and I decided it was time to try and help again. It had been several years since we’d seen her. He asked her to come home and she did. It was an answer to many prayers, and it proves again that love never fails. God loves us and will never forsake us. The previous few years were awful, but God taught me many lessons. By His grace, I have my precious girl home, happy, healthy, and helpful in every way. God used Gilgal to literally save her life. I am so very thankful and pleased she is safe. This is going to be an incredibly happy Mother’s Day because a mother’s love never fails, and this mother-daughter relationship never failed. God is so good.
Please join us in congratulating Tara M. for becoming Gilgal’s first 2021 graduate. It has been beautiful to watch God work in and through her life this past year, and we give Him all of the honor and glory for doing what only He could have done. Tara is living proof that Change Happens at Gilgal because God’s love never fails.
Thank you to everyone who supported her this past year through your generous donations of love, time and resources. You are all a part of her journey and helped get her to this special milestone.
Please continue to pray for Tara as she enters the next chapter of her life. This is only the beginning and we can’t wait to see where God takes her next.
If you missed reading Tara’s story of how Love Never Fails, you can read it HERE.
Change Happens at Gilgal. Thank you all for being a part of it!
Read Sara’s story, “A Path to Hope,” featured in Ministry Watch. You’ll learn first-hand about God’s unfailing love and see what He can do with a life fully surrendered to Him. Change Happens at Gilgal and it is all because His Love Never Fails!
My name is Tara M., and I am 46 years old. I was born in Columbus, Georgia, but grew up in Alabama as the youngest of two girls. For the most part I was an average kid who didn’t get into much trouble. When I was 17, just a senior in high school, my mother died from cancer. I was with her when she took her last breath. At that moment, my world crashed. Somehow, I managed to graduate high school and enroll in cosmetology school, which is where I was introduced to the party life.
I gradually went deeper into drinking and drugging – experimenting with every drug I could find. Before I knew it, I was in my thirties and addicted to meth, which became my drug of choice. During that time, I lived in a fog, going to work and family gatherings while high. I was generally under the influence no matter what I did. As soon as I woke up, I was doing some type of drug. Nothing could stop me – not even the fact that I was the mother of two young boys. I had also cycled through numerous abusive relationships with men, seeking the love I craved but never truly found.
My life was an up and down twist of one bad choice after another until eventually I had to get some help. Before coming to Gilgal, I tried several other programs that lasted six months at a time and were less structured. But with no real success. I would have a little clean time, but before too long would relapse. This time around, I decided to try a Christ-centered program. I figured I didn’t have anything to lose.
When my mom was alive, I had asked Jesus into my heart and even gotten baptized. Even though I walked away from Him as a teenager, I always knew deep down that He loved me and was always trying to get my attention – I just wasn’t listening. There are so many times, when I was in dangerous situations and with abusive men, that I know His angels were watching over me. I should have been dead but His love for me never wavered. Somehow, I knew He was always there.
Since being at Gilgal, I have grown closer to my Father in Heaven. He has opened my heart to another way of life filled with peace. He’s broken so many of my destructive cycles and patterns. But most importantly I have found out what true love means. The love that the Bible teaches about that never fails. I know now that it is only found in God.
I’ll admit, I had a rocky start when I first got to Gilgal, and there were even times when I wanted to leave the program. I am so thankful that I decided to stay. I have learned that I am worthy of love and a life of happiness and peace. God brought me here and put me on a solid foundation to grow and learn. I am excited to wake up every day and learn important life skills. I am grateful for a deeper relationship with God.
I am working a full-time job, saving my money, maintaining a life of discipline and structure and am now a productive member of society. God is also restoring my relationships with my family and children. I also have grandchildren whom I hope to pass on valuable lessons to. I have come a long way and I thank God and Gilgal for helping me put my life back on track.
Change Happens at Gilgal because His Love Never Fails.