These thoughts are shared by Maria Granados of the Metro Ministry Center.

Karla was going through a difficult time in her life when she began coming to our House Church with her mom, Daisy, who herself is working on getting restored.  For Karla, being a single mom, being pregnant again, and having difficulties with the baby's father was overwhelming.  I was encouraged to see her come and participating with the group, building relationships with everyone, and getting together with sisters to hang out. 

One day, Daisy called me frantically letting me know that Karla's baby was being taken away. The father of the baby and Karla had gotten into a heavy disagreement, and as a result DCFS got involved and took little Alexi.  Daisy didn't know what to do, and the only thing I told Daisy was that God was in control, and we all began to pray. 

During this time, Karla still kept on coming out to Bible Talk.  As a group we prayed for Karla, Daisy and Alexi.  Darren even asked the whole ministry center to pray for Karla as she was facing a difficult situation.  Meanwhile, Karla began praying to God telling him that she wanted to follow him, but she didn't know how.  One day after house church I asked Karla if she would like to study the bible.  She said yes right away.  She shared with me that she had wanted to study for a while, but didn't know who to ask.  She saw God had answered her prayer.

The studies with Karla were great, and at the end of each study her word would be "Wow".  I was encouraged by her response to God.  As we were getting closer to the end of Karla's studies, tension was growing within her, it was already two months since they took Alexi from Karla, and her counselor had promised that it would only be for a month.  After finishing one of her studies, I suggested to Karla that we should go before God in prayer right then to request that Alexi be returned quickly.  That same week Alexi was returned!  Through it all, Karla's love and faith for God grew and she continued her journey to get to know Jesus and her purpose in life. 

Karla is a totally different young woman than she was when she first started coming to our house church.  She has deep convictions about following God and she is becoming a great mom.  God's power to radically change lives was clear as Karla was baptized on Sunday, March 16, 2008.  Victory was given to God, and now Karla is our sister in Christ.