Case Studies
How a Simple Friendship Led One Young Woman to Discover Who She is in Christ
Tue Nov 07 2023
“Do I look like someone who has a good father?” Marie asked.
Melany sat a bit stunned across the table from Marie, a local university student. Marie usually made intense comments like these trying to get a rise out of people. Today, though, she was in for a surprise.
“Do I look like someone who had a good father?” Melany asked back.
Grasping for Identity
Marie sat quietly. Melany was a beautiful young woman, confident in who God made her to be, settling more into her body, personality, and giftings everyday. Marie, on the other hand, struggled with her identity. She often felt more like her guy friends than any of the girls she hung out with. She was deeply lonely, having grown up in an unstable, fatherless home. But what Marie didn’t know was that Melany also grew up without a father. Sadly, drugs and alcohol led him to jail where he spent most of his daughter’s childhood. The only difference in the two was that one had found Jesus.
As the summer progressed, Melany and Marie met regularly. They used the Waha app to read the Bible and discuss questions that promoted self reflection, vulnerable confession about each girl’s weaknesses, and discovering the person of Jesus. Marie continued asking hard questions that were met time and again with patience and gentleness both from Melany and the written words of Jesus. Marie even opened up to a group of other university students and formed a bond with them as they all discovered God for themselves, most of them for the very first time.
Finding a New Family Rooted in God’s Love
Recently Marie was in my house as she and I now meet regularly with that same group of local students to read the Bible. As we started through the fellowship questions at the beginning of the Waha lesson, she opened up about some health struggles her mom was experiencing. Soon she was pouring out her heart feeling like her mom’s lack of medical care was all her fault. Neither my husband or I were facilitating the meeting as everyone in the group felt comfortable to do so after using the Waha app for several months, so we waited to see what would happen. The young man leading the meeting stood up, crossed the room, and sat down next to Marie. He took his blanket and draped it over the back of both of their shoulders. He said little, but his actions spoke volumes. Then my husband, the oldest man and only father in the room spoke up.
“Marie, we want you to know that none of this is your fault.”
Marie went home that night to a messy life. Honestly, she didn’t even go back to her actual home. She regularly bounces around, staying with different friends and relatives. But that night was a turning point. A fatherless young woman struggling to know who she is and how she fits into the world was surrounded by people who loved her and were being filled with stories from Scripture of a God who truly loves them.
This article was guest-written by one of our Waha users. If you’ve got a story to share about your experience using Waha, let us know at stories@waha.app and we might feature it here!