Stories of Advent – Kelly

Kelly’s Story of Hope and Healing

During the Advent season, we love sharing with you stories of people in the NightShift community. Sharing stories is a powerful way of connecting with others, and giving Hope.

Kelly’s story is one of healing, hope and serving others. She is a committed volunteer at NightShift’s Welcome Centre drop-in. Kelly has a wonderful gift of connecting with people in need in our community.

“For me, the Welcome Centre at NightShift is mostly about listening to others. For some of the people who drop in, their own family members aren’t talking to them or they don’t have friends they can count on,” says Kelly. “So, it’s about letting people be heard and validated. And it’s about praying with them.”

Kelly’s ability to connect with people experiencing pain and addiction comes from a very real place. She’s been through it too – and come out the other side with a mission to share hope.

“I think the opposite of addiction is connection. When people feel loved, they start to feel hope,” shares Kelly. “At NightShift, when we serve people, we are sharing the truth, that they are important and they matter. That’s sharing hope.”

You too can help share hope at NightShift this Christmas season and beyond!

Kelly was raised in an unstable household, began drinking at seven years old, and drug use followed. It was a way to escape the trauma of sexual abuse as a child, and later, infidelity in her marriage. “I used alcohol and drugs to escape myself and to survive,” Kelly shares.

In 2018, after a series of traumatic events, Kelly decided to end her life with a deadly amount of alcohol and pills. The last thing she remembers of that night is not being able to move her body or talk – although she had changed her mind and wanted to live. She thought about Jesus before losing consciousness.

“When I woke up, there was sun beaming through the window, and the sun was warm on my face,” Kelly remembers. “I couldn’t believe I was alive! I probably ran a marathon that day. I just knew, ‘Jesus is real!’”

From there, Kelly’s life took a change in direction – towards healing and hope, and helping others. After residential treatment, she got actively involved in Recovery Church in Langley – where she heard about NightShift when the pastor invited people to consider serving. Kelly was immediately interested and signed up for NightShift’s volunteer training. And she’s been volunteering ever since at the Welcome Centre drop-in and at outreach.

“We might say something during NightShift’s evening meal outreach that could change the course of someone’s life, and put them in the direction of recovery,” Kelly says. “We don’t know the outcome, but if we are serving people and loving them, we are planting seeds and letting God do the rest of the work.”

We are so grateful to Kelly for sharing her story with us. Her heart for the NightShift community shines a bright as a star.

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Join NightShift as we celebrate the season of Advent on our social media platforms and Advent page on our website. Each day you’ll get a “window” into the life of our ministry. And we’ll be sharing stories of hope with you throughout December!