My name is Erika Lieu and it’s my first year serving as a mentor for Young Lives. It has been a privilege to get to know a few of the young moms personally even if it was just for a season. I admire you all for your courage of stepping up and doing all you can for your precious babies.

I want to share the story of one of the moms that I’ve been so blessed to get to know. Her name is Nhi Arias. She’s been part of young lives since last year. I just met her a few months ago. She was a bit shy at first but is such a sweet girl. She told me about her family and their disapproval and her struggles as a new mom. She enjoys coming to club and hanging out with the other moms. She doesn’t feel alone. I would ask her what she thought about the messages she’d hear at club and she said its nice and all but since she’s a Buddhist, she couldn’t believe that stuff.

A few weeks ago, she was having a tough night. She fought with her mom earlier and was just feeling alone and hopeless. As her baby and boyfriend slept, she sat there weeping. Suddenly she felt a great warmth around her and knew it was God’s presence. She said she realized that even if her family was against her, she knew God loved her and had been showing her his love through people at young lives and at the clinic she was attending that without knowing her were pouring out love to her. God had always been there and for the first time she felt that He was real and loves her no matter what. The next day when we spoke she told me she felt like a whole new person and knew that God was her father, loves her unconditionally and that everyone had to know.
I was just in awe hearing her express her new found faith in God. This verse came to mind about how God makes us new.

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, a new life has begun”  2 Corinthians 5:17

It doesn’t matter what your life is like now, God can make it new. I just want you all to know how precious you each are to God and how much he loves you and continues to pursue you. I’m excited to see how God is working in Nhi’s life. I can’t wait to see her reach her goals in life. She’s a much happier person now with more confidence knowing that God is with her every step on the way.