"We met one of our students, Jakayla, years ago at Carver High School when she was pregnant with her son. Jakayla was initially a quiet participant in our “Lunch and Learn” and was clearly troubled by the prospect of parenting and having a child while in high school.

One afternoon I was at the playground downtown with my daughters and began a conversation with a man working on the fixtures on the nearby splash pad. We were chatting about raising children, and he began opening up to me about his life as a young father and the struggles he experienced. He mentioned that his daughter was now pregnant as a teenager and due to give birth that very week. I asked her name, and when he told me it was Jakayla, I knew this was a God-ordained moment. I encouraged Jakayla’s father that her future was still destined for greatness and that through her involvement in our program we would teach her to hope in Christ and to have confidence that He will guide her towards a bright, wonderful future.