Jazzmyn’s story begins with a mother who was abused as a child. The emotional toll was never treated, so she took out her anger on her children. Neglect and shame were the norm during Jazzmyn’s younger years.
Starved for positive relationships, she came to City Life in middle school. “I loved when the leaders talked to me and invested in me. City Life was my escape.”
Jazzmyn accepted Jesus as her savior during this time. But in high school she rebelled and began dating older men. That was met with great shame and disgust from her family, to the extent that not one of her eight siblings would talk to her.
She eventually came back to City Life, and thought she’d be rejected like at home. But she says, “City Life leaders showed me love, asked me questions and that’s something I wasn’t expecting.”
She began discipleship with a City Life worker, and learned more about God and who He was. “I started doing things God’s way. It started to fill me up and changed my life. The more I was filled by God the less I was fulfilled by the things of this earth.”
Today, Jazzmyn is an intern at the City Life Center, working with younger students to show them the love and acceptance she so deeply experienced.
“I am known by God and I am loved by God and that’s all that matters!”