Last month I told you about the utter chaos in the lives of our Aslan children. This month I want to tell you about how one young lady overcame the chaos. Keesha* first came to Aslan as a bright-eyed little eight-year-old girl. Her mother (who was involved with drugs) loved Keesha enough to send her from New York City to our area to live with her grandmother. Although the grandmother’s house was a slightly better situation, it was far from perfect. An uncle who grew up there was serving time in state prison on drug charges. When Keesha was 12 years old, one of the largest drug busts (to that time) in our county took place at her house. A melee broke out when one of Keesha’s aunts bashed a policeman over the head with a steel flashlight. As the officer lay on the floor convulsing from a cranial fracture, Keesha’s 14-year-old cousin attacked another policeman. Three policemen were injured, and officers from 7 municipalities had to be called in to quell the riotous conditions that developed.

Keesha could easily have followed the path of many of her family members. She choose instead to come to Aslan every time the doors were open – for tutoring, Bible classes, summer camps, bicycle trips, Creation Festival … the whole works! There were some rough spots along the way, to be sure. In her freshman year in high school, Keesha’s grandmother died. As she prepared to move in with her father, he also died suddenly. She eventually moved in with an aunt and uncle who provided her with a much more stable living situation.

In high school Keesha began to act out some of her latent anger toward her mother and her unfortunate circumstances, resulting in fighting at school and frequent suspensions. She stopped attending Aslan for a year, but we continued to pray for her and believe in her. By her senior year she was a regular again at Aslan Bible classes and she participated in our “College Bound” leadership group. Keesha visited several East Coast schools during Aslan’s annual college tour, and she chose to attend Clark University in Atlanta. She made the Dean’s list in her first year at Clark! She also quickly became involved in a large 15,000 member Atlanta church where she is a leader in their 300 member college group! Through our scholarship fund, Aslan continues to provide substantial scholarship help to Keesha. This is one dedicated, determined and transformed young woman. She is a “world changer” in the making, and we thank you for the nurturing care and support you have helped us provide for her!

With your regular and faithful support, so many lives that would have been wasted continue to be rescued. Aslan is making a lasting difference that is standing the test of time!
 

Sincerely in Christ,

 Craig

Craig Bogard