Things don’t always go as planned. And God’s plans are always better than ours. For a number of years, Love INC has offered a class for women on destructive relationships. It was never requested by men, until recently. One man needed to take the class. With only a week before class, our staff started making plans to see if the need could be met. A week turnaround for putting a class together is usually quite difficult. But within one day, a male class facilitator and 3 other men signed up for the class. We could have never imagined how God would orchestrate this so fully and quickly. Here is what one of those men says about Love INC:

Once you walk in the door you are welcomed. There is no judgement--you automatically get the feeling that these people care about you and want to help in any way they can.

One of the main things I learned is that no matter what you do, you cannot change another person. The only way a person can change is if they are willing and are ready—and that includes yourself. And even if that change is needed for the better, there will still be pain or consequences.

Sometimes we are stuck on believing something we know is not true. That can affect us in many ways as well as the people around us. Surrounding yourself with multiple positive supports systems helps a lot. It helps just knowing someone is there to help guide you through whatever it may be.

I am not one to ask for help or accept help from others. I would rather be the one to help others, but I am learning that it is okay to ask for help and accept it as you will not be judged.

I feel like not only is my life better, but my child’s, family’s, friend’s, and co-workers lives are better as well since me being a part of the classes through Love INC. 

It started with a furniture request. And then a holiday food box fellowship night. And then many rides to medical appointments. The community member and Christian volunteer’s paths probably would have never crossed outside of the transportation ministry. But they quickly found common ground. 

The volunteer shared: “On the way home we shared stories about growing up on a farm and visiting Grandma and Grandpa’s farm for picnics and homemade ice cream. He was chased down and mauled by a bull, and I was mauled by a mother cow who didn’t want me to pet her newborn baby calf. I enjoyed our drive together, and I think he did too.”

After 31 “touch points” with different church volunteers, the community member recently shared:. “For the first time in 35 years, I finally stepped foot in a church again. And I’m going back next week”. 

Overcoming struggles has no timeline. For one young woman in our community, her childhood was one struggle after another. Moving from state to state with her single mom and living with very little money were the norm. They moved to northwest Iowa when she was in 5th grade and despite continuing to live in poverty, it was the first time in her life that she had any sort of stability. But the struggles continued when she was sexually assaulted by an older teenage neighbor. A few years later, she became a teen mom. She eventually got married but poor decisions were a common part of the first few years of their marriage. She and her husband had begun to prioritize their Christian faith but her painful past was hard to overcome. They had created a stable life for themselves, but things became difficult again when her mom passed away. The pain, challenges, hurts, struggles, and dysfunctions of her past came in to focus again. She came to Love INC looking to heal from her past and to strengthen her faith in order to lay a more positive foundation for her future.

Here is what she has to say about her time with Love INC:

Love INC helps me see that I have a choice every day to see the glass as half full or half empty. If I choose half full, my days get better. I have learned a lot about myself since taking several classes and learned that even though we go through tough times, there is always hope with God and people who believe in me. I look at situations and people differently now. I try to be more patient and look on the bright side of all situations.

Love INC is such a welcoming place. There’s no judgement, and it’s easy to talk to and make friends with others in class. The Christian volunteers truly care about you as a person and even trust us with some their struggles in life. Love INC--the volunteers and the others that attend are always there for each other—picking each other up and holding each accountable to better lives. 

I originally started Love NC classes because I wanted to prove to DHS how much I’ve changed and how much I love my kids. Now I go because I enjoy it and have learned so much.

Something that really stands out to me is from the Destructive Relationships class. I didn’t realize how many people I thought were my real friends really aren’t.

Being involved with Love INC has been amazing for my kids and me. I’m a recovering addict, and I thought people would judge me just because they have seen my name in the news. It’s not like that at all at Love INC. They are very welcoming and helpful. I can honestly say if it wasn’t for everyone involved with Love INC, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

When I started Love INC classes, I did not have custody of my children. I was depressed and thought I was going to lose everything I had. Now I’m a different person. I got custody of my kids, and I’m excelling in life. I have new friends—real friends—that are there for me and my kids. Without Love INC, I’m pretty sure I would have given up and went back to drugs. I can proudly say I am 2 1/2 years clean and plan to continue to be! I want to be able to help people who are struggling like I did. I recommend Life Together classes to everyone because they are life changing. Thank you for all you’ve done for me and my family! 

For some Christians, going to church is easy. But after experiencing significant hurt by a church, one woman walked away for many years. Starting Life Together classes through Love INC was the first step she took to get back to her Christian faith. That was 3 years ago. Through much personal reflection and the care of Christian volunteers, she still attends class faithfully every week. Even more, she shares: “In one of the most recent classes, I put together a step-by-step plan to start attending church again. The first step was to sit in the church lobby during a church service. I was really nervous, so I went late and left early, but I did it! The next step was getting myself in the sanctuary, which I did. Now I have been going to church faithfully for 6 months!”

My father adopted me at 9 months old. That was right after he married my mom. They divorced and she moved out of the state and he got full custody of me when I was 5 years old. I was a daddy’s girl, learning anything and everything I could from him. He raised me by himself. My dad was there for me for anything and everything and was always supportive and never judgmental.

I have worked in health care all my adult life, providing care to hospice patients and then providing support after their loved ones passed. Let me tell you it’s completely different when it’s someone very important to you such as a parent. I really didn’t know how to grieve. I let my world go dark. It didn’t help that 6 short months after my dad passed, my stepdad passed who my daughter and I were both close with.

That’s when I knew I needed help. I realized I didn’t know how to help myself or how to help my daughter-- so I sought out any information I could to help us.

I was a little scared at first to go to Grief Share, but that all disappeared right away. I felt welcomed and never judged, especially when it was hard to talk about my dad and tears would fall.

Something that really stood out to me from class is how God will always provide you with the essentials. God is the only constant. I am unable to say exactly what changed my mindset while attending but something did. I had always believed that my dad chose me. Then it hit me, and I need to give the credit where credit is due. God chose my dad as the person He wanted to raise me.

My life is good--still kind of chaotic—but now I can say that with a smile on my face. I have learned to let God be in control and everyone in my family seems a bit happier now.

Thank you Love INC! 

We were led to the doors of Love INC because of alcohol and meth addiction. We were arrested on multiple charges and wanted to get sober with a faith-based determination.

Through taking Grief Share class, we learned that we need to trust in God’s journey for us and that with Him, anything is possible. Our God is a forgiving God and many people have difficult and different paths. We learned that today is what we have to be most grateful for, which always gives us hope for tomorrow! But we also saw that there are good people still and that they really do care. The love given has been the driving force in our faith-based recovery from addiction.

We are still attending Love INC’s Life Together program and have secured housing. Having furniture provided to us and earning vouchers at Life Together have tremendously helped us with day-to-day expenses. The voucher program has undoubtedly jump-started our progress in recovering from addiction.

Also, through valuable advice and scripture readings, we have discovered that there is life after addiction. We have retained hope to heal the damaged relationships we have accumulated throughout our addictions.

Since our introduction to Love INC, we have felt welcomed with arms wide open and are learning to trust in people again. We hope our hopefulness is transparent in our perfect attendance and willingness to give back to this organization. We both couldn't say enough praise about the teachers, service workers, other volunteers, and administration of this tremendous organization. This organization is faith-based and truly the work of God. 

It was the summer of 2019, and Shane and Kami were engaged to be married. Shane’s finances were bogged down with fines from a previous brush with the law and Kami’s save! save! save! nature made her nervous to combine her finances with Shane’s. In order to tackle their financial differences head-on, about 9 months before they said “I do”, they signed up for Faith and Finances class and began the year-long budget mentor program. Their mentors were a married couple who were financially knowledgeable and had a deep faith and trust in God. Most weeks, Kami met with the wife and Shane met with the husband. But there were also meetings with the four of them together as their wedding day got closer and they looked to combine their finances. It took severe discipline, hard conversations, honest humility, sacrifice (sometimes painful), and seeking God for His wisdom, but in one year, Shane and Kami paid off over $13,000 worth of debt and began their marriage united in purpose and hopeful about their lives together. They continue to take classes through the Life Together program in order to stay in step with God’s plan for their future. They attribute their growth to God’s Church coming alongside of them, encouraging them, challenging them, and holding them accountable to honoring God in their marriage and life

In her time with Love INC, Dana has taken roughly 30 sessions of class, repeating some classes as many as 8 times (Bible Study). The Life Together program has been on her Thursday night schedule for most weeks in the past 10 years. As a single mom, Dana came to Love INC to get guidance on her finances. She dove right into the budget mentoring program and found a budget that worked for her. But as time went on and Dana took a break from the program and there was no longer the weekly accountability, she began to back-slide. She knew returning to Life Together would provide the support and accountability she needed to get her life back on track. Upon returning, Dana opted to take a class that was out of the norm for her—Bible Study. She had the belief that Jesus died and rose from the dead for her, but little more than that made sense. Attending a Sunday morning church service is a struggle: Dana works long hours—every day except for Sundays, so she is always exhausted. And the messages just don’t make sense to her. Bible Study class through Life Together was a safe place for Dana to begin reading scripture and ask questions that perplexed her. In 2021, Dana was selected to test-pilot the new life coaching ministry offered. In her year with her life coach, Dana navigated topics such as friendships, processing the grief of losing her sister to cancer, thinking through creative ways to strengthen her faith, and building up her self-esteem. The Dana you’d meet today is not the Dana we met 10 years ago. Dana and her life are being shaped by the Church and the out-pouring of love, care, and support she is receiving in the Life Together setting and other Love INC ministries.

In late 2019, Brenda, her husband Peyton, and their two children had the opportunity to immigrate from Uganda to the United States. The flight to the states was long—26 hours. Flying for that long, they all arrived with sore muscles and achy joints. Several days later, their 12-year-old daughter, Marcella, could not shake a pain in her knee. They took her to the clinic, where she had x-rays and other testing. From there, they were referred to Sioux Falls and from there, the Mayo clinic in Rochester. In March 2020, they received the news that no parents want to hear. Their daughter had bone cancer. The timing of her diagnosis was both a blessing and a nightmare. They were getting settled in the United States and there was treatment available, but the fear of Covid was at an all-time high. They were new to the county and did not have a lot of resources. With most of Marcella’s care being in Sioux Falls and Rochester, not having transportation—neither a car or a driver’s license—provided a significant challenge for them to get to her appointments. They were connected with Love INC’s transportation ministry and began receiving the rides needed for Marcella’s treatment. With the help of several church volunteers, Marcella underwent a leg amputation, 6 months of chemotherapy, countless lab draws, hospital admissions, and physical therapy. The volunteers giving them rides, sometimes on very short notice, were crucial in Marcella’s treatment and recovery. Brenda shares that they have met so many awesome people who have become like family to them.