Ministry Moments:
Tina, the Abused Child
&
Debbie, the Legal Druggie
by Lynn Ridenhour
Tina and Debbie were two of my favorites. I don’t
mean that I played favorites, but out of the thirty some homeless hitchhikers
that were staying with us at the Upper Room, I was especially close to Tina
& Debbie.
Both were fourteen and hooked on drugs. Both came from dysfunctional
families. And both were fourteen going on twenty-five.
One morning I heard a knock at the door.
"Are you those Jesus Freaks?" said a middle-aged man, standing
next to his wife. They were dressed shabby. I said, "some people call us
that. Please, come in."
"We want you to take our daughter," said the man. He got right to
the point. "We can’t control her. She’s gone for days at a time and
she’s only fourteen." The mother was quiet & rather shy. But I
could see the panic in her eyes.
"Where is she now?" I asked.
"We don’t know."
They spent about forty minutes with us pouring out their hearts. Tina was a
rebellious teen. To hear them tell it. But I learned, especially in this
business—there are always two sides of a story.
"Tell you what, I’ll do some asking around, and see if I can’t
locate your daughter. If I find her, you want me to call you?"
"Please." And they left.
Tina wasn’t hard to find. She was hiding from her parents. Actually, she
was hiding from her stepdad and her uncle. The man who came to my door was her
stepdad. Come to find out, her stepdad and uncle would take Tina along with
them into St. Louis to be the watchdog as they stole cars and brought the cars
back to fix up in their garage, sand them down and resell them. Tina’s
stepdad & uncle owned a wrecking company, a towing service. Tina would
watch for the cops as the two men hurriedly backed up to a vehicle and towed
it away. After the raid, they’d stop off at a motel, get Tina drunk and rape
her.
Tina had run away.
We found her, called her parents, and Tina came to live with us. She was a
beautiful girl, an excellent writer who wrote the most "grown up"
poetry for her age. For the longest time Tina would not let me near her,
certainly not touch her. At the age of fourteen she had already lost her trust
in men. And we were a "touchy/feely" group. Hugs were a common thing
at the Upper Room, especially in those moments when God moved.
One day the Lord saved Tina and she became a beautiful Christian. She was
already beautiful on the outside; now she was beautiful on the inside. The
proof of Tina’s deliverance came when, with ease, she too could join in
during those moments of hugs. Tina became one of our most effective street
evangelists. She made all our posters & signs. Tina really loved God. And
became comfortable around men.
She couldn’t contain her newly found joy so she invited her friend,
Debbie, to come live with her. Debbie was a junkie, hooked on her mother’s
prescription drugs. She stole her mother’s drugs and stayed high. We never
preached to these kids; we knew that wouldn’t work. The best thing we could
try & do is to get them into the presence of God. We never saw a human
heart that He couldn’t change.
So praise & worship was our weapon.
I love the verse, "thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises
of Israel." –Psalms 22:3
God comes when we praise. He inhabits our praise.
There were instruments lying around everywhere at the Upper Room. Often you
would hear jamming off in a corner. Maybe a group would be strumming guitars
and playing their flute out on the front steps; another group might be
upstairs. Music flowed from everywhere. Often our worship services were no
more than praise services. No preaching. It bears repeating…
God comes when we praise.
We were in one praise service one evening when someone said, "does
anyone have anything they’d like to say?" A young boy stood and calmly
said, "the Lord just opened my eyesight," and sat down.
Debbie was birthed into the kingdom through praise. I remember it well.
This was Debbie’s first encounter with the presence of God. The Bible says, "be
not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody in your hearts to the Lord" (Eph.5:18,19).
The praise & worship was especially heavenly that evening. On those
rare occasions when the Spirit comes, there are those moments (usually in
praise) when the people of God seem to get drunk. I call it—drunk in the
Spirit. A few of us that evening got drunk in the Spirit. We were literally
staggering at moments to stand. Some of us couldn’t stand. Debbie was drunk
in the Spirit, unable to stand long. One of her friends would pick her up and
down she’d go again. Laughing and speaking to herself in spiritual songs.
She was lying on the floor singing in tongues. A totally new experience for
her.
Now I’ve been drunk on wine and liquor. I can now understand why Paul
said not to be drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit. Sometimes the
Spirit of God comes in His mighty power & presence and it’s like being
drunk. Only, unlike booze, the experience is not counterfeit.
I was so happy for Debbie that night. For I knew now she had experienced a
real drunk! From that night on Debbie loved to worship & praise. Hands
lifted, her eyes closed, she loved singing in the Spirit. She was always one
of the first to lead us into the heavenlies. Debbie loved making melody in her
heart to the Lord.
You might say—Debbie swapped one addiction for another. Prescription
drugs for praise & worship.
Habits die hard though.
Linda and I got legal custody of Debbie. She had been with us for about
three months when she began getting homesick, and was talking to us about
spending the weekend at home with her mother. Debbie’s father was the town
drunk and was seldom at home. We discussed the fact that her old temptations
would be there waiting for her. Could she handle it? She said she could so we
agreed to let her go.
One night the phone rang. I rolled over and looked at the clock: 3 am.
On the other end I heard a faint sound, "…help…"
