“Isaiah comes twice a week. To Hope & Future and Collision. A year ago Isaiah was cursing out another kid and threatening to fight him. One of our last weeks of Collision Isaiah made another kid cry by how he poked fun of him. Isaiah felt bad, thought it was a harmless comment, and apologized to this kid as he felt remorseful and knew to do the right thing.”

“King loves coming to Cornerstone. He always comes home after and says ‘Mom did you know this and that about Jesus?’ haha yes, King I did. I’m glad you’re learning so much.”

“Sophia professed to be an atheist. Every week she’d show up to class, participate in discussions and would say, “I don’t really believe in God.” At our March girls’ retreat, I could see God softening Sophia’s heart. She began worshipping with us some, and would cry at pivotal moments—reflecting the Spirit was moving in her heart. On the last day of class, Cornerstone offered the teens to be baptized, and to our surprise and delight, Sophie stepped up, professed her faith in Jesus and got baptized. We prayed and talked afterwards, and her conversion was the “real deal.” She was excited to be a part of a local church and grow her faith. Her story is such a great reminder that we press on in mentoring these youth, even when we cannot foresee the fruit.”

“Before I entered the Cornerstone program I wasn't strong in my faith. If you would've asked me if I believed I would go to heaven I wouldn't have a definite answer. I was scared to pray for myself thinking God might think I was selfish. I knew God was real and I believed in him but I didn't believe the stories of the Bible. I thought to ask questions about God was to show doubt and that meant dishonor in some way. I thought that I had no right to question Him because I grew up being told to just agree with the guidelines and don’t ask questions. At Cornerstone I was able to go over specific things going on in my life and work out the struggles between me and God that I thought would never be solved. I learned how to incorporate God into my day to day life. There's a saying going in that I hated saying "God only gives you what you can handle", and I think I finally understand the meaning. To me I think it means if you have God by your side you can accomplish anything. I use hate that quote because I know people who have terrible lives and they’re good people and it seemed to only get worse, but then I realized they prayed only out of necessity they had no relationship with God and they didn't have Him by their side. Cornerstone helped me to address issues in my personal life that I had been sweep under a rug. Just to be around a group of people who love God so much and aren't embarrassed to say it is contagious.”

“I watched a 15 year old girl understand worship the way the Holy Spirit designed it. She actually created a worship and praise song, and sang it to me, and then perform it at Collision and our retreat. I watched 6th grade girls ask SUCH good questions about the Word of God, and desiring to explore the trinity and how it applies to them. I had girls break down and reveal that despite their home life, they wanted new life in Jesus. God also showed me that even when it feels like these middle school girls are off topic and off task so often, they really are soaking in SO much because God is speaking to them and using me as a vessel. It’s easy to feel like a broken vessel and he reminded me that I am a broken vessel, and what an honor it is to be that broken vessel and plant seeds. He’s told me that with time I’ll continue to see the harvest flourish, but keep planting without ceasing.”