Tammy Beatty

I thank God for never giving up on me. My childhood was marked by abuse, and by eleven I was drinking and smoking weed to numb it. A much older man groomed me, and by twelve I was being trafficked and beaten. At sixteen I found the courage to call the police, and he went to prison for fifteen years. The years that followed — foster care, five children, two broken marriages, treatment centers and churches — left me not knowing who I was. When my kids were grown, I spiraled into addiction like never before.

So lost and broken, I cried out to God: “Please God, I need you! I surrender it all.” The next day I remembered that Victory Outreach Church had a women’s recovery home in Portland. It was January 14, 2014, when I came to the Victory Outreach Portland recovery home — and where my healing began. After graduating, I became the director of that home for the next eight and a half years. The relationship I have with Jesus has healed my broken heart and the many scars of a wounded child.

Today I have purpose. I thank God for the Victory Outreach Portland Women’s Home, and for Pastor Max and Linda — for all of their prayers and for investing their time in discipling me. Thank you, God, for never giving up on me.