May 4, 2024
JONESBORO, Ga. — Hannah’s life was “broken.”
She was raised in Ghana by her father, who was a pastor, and sister after her mother left the family when she was only 3 months old.
“My childhood was traumatic and filled with abuse, which led to prostitution and homelessness,” Hannah recently shared in a video testimony at First Baptist Jonesboro.
In 2017, she and her son Daniel sought out a new life when they moved from Ghana to the United States and settled in the Jonesboro area. But this did not solve Hannah’s problems like she had hoped.
“Life here was not much better,” Hannah, now 29, recalled. “I found myself in another abusive relationship.” In 2023, she became pregnant with her second child.
“I was without a job, hopeless, homeless and afraid for my life,” she recalled. “The stress of running to protect myself and children caused me to end up in the hospital. I was miserable and desperate for help.”
But Hannah found hope earlier this year. In January, someone introduced her to the Pregnancy Care Center in Jonesboro, and she met Richie Howard and his wife, Melissa. Richie is the minister of local ministries and missions at First Baptist Jonesboro.
At the time, Hannah admitted, she had hit a breaking point and was contemplating taking her own life. It was after she’d connected with the resource center and the Howard family that she cried out to God to save her if He was real.
“God revealed Himself to me through the love and kindness of Pastor Richie and Melissa,” she said. “They did not look at my appearance. They accepted me as their own and introduced me to Jesus Christ.”
She added, “Knowing the danger I was in, they took me into their home and showed me the love of God. This was a shock to me because we were strangers to them. I had never experienced such love before.”
After the couple began to care for her and her family, she prayed, “God, you heard me and answered my prayers.”
Since then, Hannah noted, her life has never been the same and Jesus has become her “guardian light, my source of strength and her constant companion.”
“He has brought healing and restoration to areas of my life that were once broken,” she added, “His love and grace have transformed me from the inside out.
“Today, I’m eternally grateful for the journey that led me to Jesus.”
On Feb. 27, she had her second child and named her Melissa.
Hannah was baptized on Easter Sunday by Richie and has joined First Baptist Church Jonesboro. Both her son and daughter, who was held by Melissa, were by her side in the baptistery. The entire congregation stood in Hannah’s honor during her baptism.
“I am never going back to my old life,” Hannah shared with the church in the video. “I will worship God for the rest of my life and tell everyone that I am redeemed, a child of God.”
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This story was compiled by Shawn Hendricks of The Baptist Paper, with reporting from First Baptist Church Jonesboro.
