by Timothy Hester
In 2011, God brought me to the mountain for a week-long journey to help rebuild the upper dorms at Transformation Life Center™. God put a love on my heart for the place even then. Through prayer and much counsel it was not until 2013 that TLC became my home. Though my life was given freely to Jesus just a few years before, my spiritual life would blossom here at TLC. Perseverance was just a word before arriving here, and it is now a way of life. By the grace of God this is still my home. During the years many staff and students have come and gone, and though all was within God’s plan, some were painful to see go.
It has been a blessing to bear witness to the transformation of many that were trapped in the bondage of the flesh and its perils. Some struggle with even the concept of God and his eternal plan for those who choose to accept his free gift of salvation. It warms my heart to see the uniqueness of God’s plan as He reveals himself to them and watch them come alive inside. “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 43:5 NIV). Staying in the program six to twelve months for the students flies by and they move forward from here with hope shining brightly inside them. The fire in their eyes bringing each to share their journeys with others as the transformation experience is passed on in love. I thank God for having allowed me to serve TLC and each man that has come to the mountain. “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).