As a youth leader, I was very troubled by what was happening to the youth in my area. Drug addiction, drinking, cutting, sexual addiction and confusion, pornography (both males and females), anorexia, bulimia, obesity were all on the rise. There was so much rebellion to authority by our youth and a lack of adult participation in their lives. The young adults were crying out for help and there were very few adults listening. It was then that I felt the call of the Lord to do more than pray for them. It became the call of my life to be their advocate, to listen, to instruct, to gently rebuke, and teach them about the God who created them and loves them. For many years I invested my time, talent and energy pouring into young adults during one of the most difficult times of there lives.
It was May of 2011 when I noticed that my friend’s daughter was much skinnier than I had ever seen. Her eyes were sunken, complexion pasty, hair limp and her limbs were losing muscle. I had seen this so many times before as a youth leader in my church. But I had seen it first in my own family. My heart ached as I reached out to my dear friend. Together we searched the internet for a place that could help her daughter heal. But with each phone call made, my friend was faced with rejection due to lack of space or her daughter’s low weight. Together we prayed for the Lord to bring direction.
As I was driving one day, my heart heavy and my eyes overflowing with tears, I cried out to Jesus to help my friend’s daughter. And from out of my distress came the question, “Jesus, we live in one of the riches areas of the country, why isn’t there a place right here for all these young adults with addiction?” Then came the Lord’s answer that would change the course of my life. “Because I want you to open one.” Needless to say, I began to sob! What did I know about running a residential home for troubled teenagers? But I knew better than to voice that remark because I knew that if God wanted me to do something, He would equip me.
The next morning I grabbed my Bible and my journal. If the Lord wanted me to start this journey with Him, He knew I would need Scripture verses to stand on so that I was sure it was Him. And yes, those verses came. As I was reading in Isaiah, the Lord opened my eyes to Isaiah 49:8-9a as confirmation of His call on my life. You can read those verses on the Who We Are page of this site. Those verses are the backbone of this ministry. And those verses, along with my friend’s daughter’s name, gave rise to the name of our ministry, Grace Restoration Home. I had my marching orders from the Lord but I also laid my requests before Him. I asked the Lord to show me how to minister to the young women. Most addiction programs have little success. I wanted Him to teach me what I needed so that the young women would leave their time in the Home free of addiction and so connected to Him they would no longer need the staff at the Home. I wanted them to leave singing His praises for what He had done for them and not what the staff had done. And I wanted them to have the tools to stand strong when the enemy tried to tempt them back into addiction.
It will be four years in May 2015 that I prayed those prayers. My God has been faithful! First, He ministered to me. He broke me free of strongholds in my own life, some I didn’t even know were there! And He has not only taught me about the strongholds behind addiction, He has taught me how to help others get free of all kinds of bondage. I have ministered to many people, both male and female, different ages, many of who are leaders in their churches and also to a few Pastors. But close to my heart are my high school and college age clients. It is with great joy that I see young adults getting free of the pain of their past that has led to poor choices and destruction. And yes, those that really want freedom leave the prayer ministry connected Jesus, free of their bondage, singing His praises for what He has done for them, with tools to stand firm in their freedom!! But they also leave with something above and beyond what I had asked. They leave being able to discern their Father’s voice, that still small voice that teaches, directs, encourages and speaks His tender love over them!!
At what point is the ministry today? We have a full time staff that is trained and has been through the prayer ministry. We have started the non-residential prayer ministry and are waiting for the Lord to bring us property for the residential ministry. There is a property that has been brought to our attention which we believe is the future site of Grace Restoration Home. We are moving forward as the Lord leads.
If you need help, please go to our Contact Us page, send us your information, and we will contact you.
Tammy A Ingis