Hello. I'm Dinaa...

Hi my name is Dinaa. I want to tell you about how Jesus moved me into a new life.

I grew up in a very dysfunctional home. My mother was in a mental hospital several times and she neglected me and my 8 brothers and sisters. My father was a bad alcoholic who beat me and abused me terribly. One time in a drunken rage, he even fired a gun at me. All of this left deep emotional scars on me. Can you imagine how terrifying it would be to have your father shoot a gun at you?

When I was 14 my father made me promise to have sex with him before he would give me money to buy school clothes. I took the money, I bought my school clothes and I never went back home.

After years of neglect and abuse I was on my own at the age of 14. I turned to street life, abusive relationships with older men and eventually drug and alcohol addiction. My life has been kind of a nightmare.

When I walked through the doors of Target Dayton 7 years ago, I was a very lost and hurting soul. I was also struggling in addiction to crack cocaine and alcohol. But as I attended the services at Target Dayton, “God’s Word” and the Holy Spirit began to break through to my heart and change me. Cindi convinced me to join the choir and that was a big step for me.

Then Cindi and some people from Target Dayton came and helped me move to a better apartment 6 years ago. I had stopped using crack cocaine, but I was still struggling with alcohol. When Cindi saw the beer bottles lying around in my old apartment she encouraged me to pray and have faith in Christ to move out of my old life of addiction and begin a new life in Christ.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone; the new has come!”

I believe Jesus saw in my heart how much I really wanted to leave my old life. When we prayed together that day, I reached out in faith and Jesus changed me. I moved out of that dirty old apartment and into a clean new one… and God’s Spirit moved me out of my dirty old life… into a clean new life in Christ! I have been clean and sober for over 6 years now.

My life has been very hard. It still is sometimes. But you won’t find beer bottles laying around my apartment today. That’s because I’ve given my life to Christ and He has made me a new creation. He has changed me, healed me and set me free! I have joy and peace in my heart now and I’m living for Him.

How about you? Do you want to move out of where you’re living? Surrender your life to Christ and He will move you into a new life… just like He did for me!