By Shannon Ness
This year has provided Jenny with a super sweet opportunity to see Jesus move in someone else’s heart. Salt Company connection groups started in August, and the one she got involved with had a very small following. At first, she was worried about the size, but she quickly came to the realization that that was not the issue. The issue that presented itself was two girls with hardened hearts towards God and Christianity because of their previous church experiences. Both girls were freshmen and new to The Salt Company, and neither one seemed like they wanted to be in a c-group, yet they kept coming.One of the girls named Haley had a ton of questions about Christianity. C-group quickly became a time to share and discuss their faith, but also to answer questions like, “Why this and not that?” or, “But why do you still have faith after bad things have happened to you?” After the confusion came tears and stories of how Haley’s heart was hardened towards Jesus’ love because of her home church. What she’d learned and grown up on had shaped her heart against God’s grace rather than towards it.
Fall Retreat came along and flipped all of their hearts around – especially Haley’s. Before Fall Retreat, she hadn’t felt comfortable enough to raise her hands in worship or to fall to her knees in prayer. She’d been worried about what other’s would think of her and what she’d think of herself after. With that being said, Friday and Saturday’s messages hit her heart in a way she wasn’t expecting. By Saturday night, she was on her knees with her hands lifted high and tears rolling down her cheeks – in complete awe of our Father. For the first time, she was experiencing freedom in Christ.
Haley made the decision that night that she wants to be baptized again (She was baptized in the Catholic church as an infant), that her life truly does belong to the one, true King, and that she’s found a new community at Salt Company.
