Jung tried again and again to straighten out the mess her life had become — but it wasn’t until she came to Orange County Rescue Mission and encountered God that her life truly began to change. Now, by the grace of God and thanks to your support, Jung’s story is one of transformation and triumph.
Jung’s Story
Jung began her struggle with meth at just 12 years old. She was curious and enterprising, and wanted to make her own money. “I got some meth,” she recalls. “But for me to sell my product, I had to know how it worked…I got addicted instead.”
Somehow, she kept her drug use under the radar, which wasn’t too hard. Her parents were busy working, trying to provide food on the table and a roof over their heads; she hardly saw them.
At 18, Jung says she went “full blast.” She stopped coming home and made reckless decisions.
Then her mom was diagnosed with cancer and her whole life changed. It fell to Jung to drive her mom to chemo treatments and therapy. Jung dropped out of school and took to doing drugs in her closet. Her mom ended up passing away in 2000. “I didn’t grieve,” Jung remembers. “I didn’t know how to process it.” Instead, Jung went “full blast” again.
Soon after, Jung met a man…who turned out to be a monster. “If I didn’t do something or I got him angry, it escalated to torture. In the end, it had to be sex. I felt like a dirty old rag, basically getting raped.”
Then Jung discovered she was pregnant. Desperate to get away, she used drugs and intentionally got herself arrested as a means of escape.
But as often happens, she went back to her abuser after he made promises to change. But the abuse only got worse. At this point, Jung now had two children and was expecting her third. Jung knew her life had to change.
She fled her abuser and entered a domestic violence shelter, but there were no good long-term solutions.
“I didn’t meet any requirements of a mother/child facility,” she explains. “They would only accept two or less kids, or the waiting list was too long, or I couldn’t meet other requirements.”
It seemed like Jung was hitting one dead end after another. Then one of her counselors suggested Orange County Rescue Mission.
Not only were Jung and all her kids accepted, but it seemed to Jung like God had specifically led her to the safe refuge of the Rescue Mission.
“When I walked in, everyone here was different,” she says. “They treat you like you’re their family. They want the best for you. They make you feel like you’re wanted.”
Over time, Jung began to reclaim her life as a woman, mom and beloved child of God.
Looking back now, Jung is incredibly grateful for God’s protection. “As long as I’ve been doing drugs, I didn’t lose myself. God has kept me whole. If God didn’t protect me, I wouldn’t be able to be here. I’m able to think. I’m able to work. I’m able to serve. I’m able to make a better future for my kids, to make better choices.”
You helped Jung break the cycle of drugs and domestic violence to start a new life. Thank you for helping transform broken lives, like Jung’s. Your partnership is a blessing.
