Meet Lori

A Heart of Thanksgiving – Lori wants to share how your support changed her life!

A string of challenges and poor choices left Lori and her four children in a toxic environment and volatile living conditions.

“I knew I was walking in disobedience,” Lori says. “But sin blinds you.”

As she began to realize the gravity of her situation, she contacted her mother and a Christian mentor who advised her to leave the situation immediately. With no resources to secure a place of her own, she brought her frightened children to Great Falls Rescue Mission. “I felt relieved when I walked in the doors, because I knew we were in a safe place.”

Lori had been to the Mission years earlier – after separating from her children’s father – and had finished college while she worked to get back on her feet. But this time she knew she needed more.

“Coming back here, not having a job, housing or much more than the clothes on our backs, that gave me an opportunity to say, okay, I need my whole foundation reinforced.” With her children’s encouragement, she entered our Discipleship Program.

“I felt tattered… wounded… broken. My whole foundation was crumbling.”

Through Christian mentoring, spiritual guidance, life- and job-skills training and financial education and parenting modules, Lori is rebuilding all aspects of her life and a solid foundation for her future. Most important, she says, is her acceptance of God’s forgiveness for the mistakes of her past.

“The shame debilitates you… it brings you down. But now I am redeemed. I am a victor. And I see a success story within me.”

After graduation, she plans to save for a home for her family and use her story to help others restore the foundation of their own lives. “Here at the Mission and even out in the world, I can speak more confidently to people and encourage them in ways I’ve never done before – because of what God has done for me.”

Lori is filled with thanksgiving for God’s redeeming love in her life – and your incredible generosity and support! “This was my time of resetting my life and moving forward. I’m in awe because I used to be that person looking up to someone else and now people look up to me.”

To read our current issue of The Beacon, click here.