When Jericho Partnership moved into its current building at 13 Rose St, it seemed obvious to invite Hopeline Pregnancy Resource Center to move in and minister to some of the neediest of our city without the worry of rent and facility management. Jericho’s vision of transformation of a city most often happens one life at a time… as Jessica Costa’s story will attest.
It was but a moment in time, but it changed everything for Jessica Costa.
She was 23, a substance abuser, unmarried and pregnant, and the abortion was scheduled for the very next day. But the Holy Spirit was about to puncture her bubble of desperation and inject it with a new hope for the future. In almost an instant, while sitting in a Hopeline counseling room at the behest of her mother (a Hopeline volunteer), Jessica knew she would have her baby and live an entirely different sort of life from that moment on.
“I really felt like the Holy Spirit was there, and He said ‘you’re going to keep the baby, or you’re going to be dead,” she said. So, she walked out of the office – the ultrasound of her unborn baby still fresh in her mind – and before even driving out of the parking lot, canceled the abortion.
Jessica was right; her life would indeed change. Today, more than five years later, things have come full circle, because – after volunteering at Hopeline for years – she’s just joined the staff of the Pregnancy Resource Center, one of Jericho’s Partner Ministries. And even more wonderful, Jessica’s son Mark is now five years old, heading to kindergarten this coming fall, and is the big brother of Gabriel, who was born five months ago to Jessica and her husband, Christiano.
“Hopeline literally saved my life, and there is nothing exaggerated about that,” said Jessica, now the agency’s part-time Stewardship Assistant. “If it weren’t here, my life wouldn’t be anything near where it is today. I would do anything for Hopeline and I want other women to have the same experience as I did.”
After her decision to keep her baby, Jessica went to Hopeline weekly for counseling and for help getting connected to resources she’d need, since the baby’s father was “not on board” with her new path. Through it all, her faith grew.
“There’s been a huge transformation in my relationship with God,” Jessica said. “Since that day, even though there were still many struggles and I had a lot of healing to do, my life is all about God. Even though it’s been only five or so years, it seems like it’s been 20 for all He’s done.”
Jessica is currently being trained to facilitate the “Path to Sexual Healing” course that Hopeline uses in its counseling, and is eager to begin working with clients who are on their own journey.
“Hopeline is family to me now,” she said. “I want to give back because it’s THAT important.”