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 On September 11, 2001, the life of our nation was shattered. But to Lisa Molina and her children—Briana, Jon, Jessah and Carisa—the events of that day were overshadowed by their own personal pain as their husband and father was arrained on felony charges.
“I sat in the hallway of the courtroom and watched my husband as he was led away to be booked,” Lisa recalls. “I just couldn’t believe that the man in the orange jump suit with ankle chains and a waist restraint was the man I had married.”
As she looked around the hall that day, Lisa’s eyes were opened to an entire world that she had never noticed before. Some families, hardened by the system, laughed and joked with the guards. Others sat in crumpled silence, lost in their shame.
“There, in that hallway, I cried out to the Lord,” Lisa says. “God, I am so sorry that I have never even thought about these people. Please don’t let my husband’s incarceration be our shame…let it be our ministry.”
Day by day, God began to teach the Molinas to rely on Him…and then to reach out to others. “Early on I prayed to God that I could continue to stay home with my children,” Lisa recounts. “I had a bachelor’s degree and easily could have gone back to work, but somehow, each day He provided. I can’t tell you on paper where the money has come from…but I’ve been able to be there for my kids when they needed me most.”
When her own church—Laramie Valley Chapel—reached out to their family with two Christmases ago, it woke Lisa to the plight of all children with a parent in prison, especially during Christmas. “I was so overwhelmed by the gifts the church gave us that I was determined to get involved this year even if there were no children in our area. I know my own kids feel connected to the kids who are without their incarcerated parent.”
So this past Christmas, Lisa, her church and her children—Angel Tree children themselves—reached out to deliver gifts and the Gospel to 75 other children scattered across Sweetwater County, Wyoming, which is the size of Massachusetts and a three-hour drive from their home.
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