Angelica was born and raised in Plymouth by her single father who was a Christian in recovery. As a young child, her dad brought her to the Salvation Army. It was there that she learned that she is a child of God. Even during her toughest times, she always knew that God loved her and wanted more for her life.
However, as a young child she never felt like she was good enough, pretty enough, or smart enough. At age 12 she used her first “substances” and finally felt like she “fit in”. She used everything that this world has to offer to fill a hole in her soul.
Ultimately this led her to complete brokenness. As a young adult she gave birth to two girls. Because of her active addiction, she gave one up for adoption and the other one she lost custody of.
At age 27 she found herself in a place she never thought she would be in. She was hopeless, broken, and alone. She attended a “Prayer Vigil to Help End Addiction” that was held in our church. There she reconnected with friends she knew from childhood (one who grew up in our church) and they told her about a grant to go to Plymouth House Rehab in New Hampshire. On November 2, 2015 Angelica literally “surrendered”. She checked herself into a hospital in Boston, received help applying for the grant, and saw her life start to get better.
The program she entered helped her work through 7 of the 12 Steps in 4 weeks. This proved to be a literal lifesaver! She found God through the 12 Steps out of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. It was at this time she learned that her dad, who had moved to Oklahoma, was dying from cancer. She went out to be with him and was there for him during the last days of his life. His death ultimately led her to rely on God in a new way as she realized that all she had was her relationship with Jesus.
After the funeral, she returned to Massachusetts. She arrived here newly sober, with no place to live, and determined to make recovery a way of life. She applied for and was able to get into public housing. Angelica started to see the miracles of sobriety take place in her life. In sobriety she gave birth to her third child, Eric. Like his sisters, Eric is a precious gift from God and is being nurtured by a loving mom who is able to give him the type of loving home he deserves! Recovery has given Angelica the ability to be the mother she has always wanted to be.
Today Angelica is a leader in Faith Community Church. She has so many leadership responsibilities that we couldn’t even list them all (VBS, youth ministry, recovery ministry, Sunday School teacher, etc.). However, what matters most is that she continues to grow as a Christian, mother, and friend. Angelica has learned that her strength comes from Jesus and reading the Bible. She works to believe what God says about her instead of the lies of the Enemy and this world. Angelica is living proof of the miracle that happens when someone fully surrenders and commits themselves to the 12 Steps of a Recovery Program and to a loving, non-judgmental Christian community.
As Angelica says, “It was Jesus’ love and not His condemnation that changed and transformed me from the inside out.”