Melody's Testimony

I said I would share one of the testimonies from last night, well here it is. This is a poem that was written by Alice Talley, a Camp Hope volunteer from the Columbus, MS, area. It describes the life and struggles of Melody Brown, a woman we have been able to help not only physically but spiritually as well and who is now an important part of our congregation. Melody read this poem last night at Camp Hope. She has allowed me to reproduce it here so that you can be encouraged by it as well. Join us in praising God for what He has done and continues to do in Melody's life. Her faith and attitude is an inspiration.


You're unlovable, that's why you're here.
Just do what you're told--you'll have nothing to fear.

At sixteen years, she left on her own,
But where can you go unlovable and alone?

She learned a skill and found she could work
With the mentally challenged, whose love was a perk.

She married a man, but was his love real?
After their child grew, there was the divorce ordeal.

Unlovable--it must still be true.
Her child doesn't come; there's a grandchild now, too.

One by one she watched her loved ones leave,
Whether by choice or by a horrible disease.

When Katrina hit, she felt more alone;
It was three days before she got out of her home.

Though simple kindnesses came now and then,
Sometimes from a stranger, sometimes from a friend

Food and water weren't all she could use;
She herself needed restored much more than her roof.

Her life was hard and emptier each day;
She was attempting to drink her emptiness away.

A call from someone staying at Camp Hope
Was a plea for her help, yet a life-saving rope.

Folks at this camp fix more than broken homes;
By living out God's love, they work to fix souls.

It's more than paint and shingles they lay.
There are heart-burdened prayers for the homeowner's sake.

It's not just washers and dryers they bring.
But the Gospel truth and the love of the King.

She knew the facts, she knew about the cross.
She was confused by the lies; she was hurt by her loss.

Oh! could God love an unlovable one
By the substitutionary killing of His only Son?

Somehow what they said began to take root
As she saw God's love written in sweat and truth.

Her life took a turn for the better that day
When she trusted God's love--when they showed her God's way.

To God be the glory, great things he hath done! I pray this testimony will be as much of a blessing to you as it has been to us. Pray for Melody and for others like her here on the Coast.