12 CityLight.org
february 2012
M
y adventure started in Detroit, MI.
I'm the youngest child of six sib-
lings born to James and Francis Sa-
bra. Throughout my life I've overcome many
obstacles. When I was seven, my mother
passed after a four year battle with AIDS. I
was devastated. The loss broke me and my
sibling apart. Before my Mom past she would
go to many different churches and Kingdom
Hall's so we really didn't have a set spiritual
foundation. My brother Jeron and I went to
stay with our grandmother, and a couple of
years later she died of cancer. We were left
with nowhere to go. With a drug-addicted
father and family that turn their backs on us.
Due to the circumstances we had no money;
my brother turned to selling drugs. I went
through many struggles during my adoles-
cence. Many days I would wish I had a moth-
er to run to when times got rough, but God
had his hand on me the whole time! (Psalm
27 10-11 "When my Father and Mother for-
sake me, then the Lord will take me up; teach
thy way O Lord"! I was a young girl with
no direction; I had no one to mentor me or
help me development as a woman. Since no
one would take us in we went to stay with my
Dad, who ran a drug house. It was no place
for a child to be! I saw everything that went
on in that house! I know now that God put
a shield of protection around me. At the age
of 11 gang members were the people I called
family, because in my eyes, the people that
shared the same blood as me had abandoned
me. My sister tried to do her best with what
we had. It was later that I realize the family
that I thought really cared for me, only want-
ed me around for their own selfish gain. My
grades in school were suffering because of the
life changes I was experiencing. In the ninth
grade my grade point average was a 2.0. By
the age of fifteen I was fed up with the way my
life was going and refused to continue to be
sucked into my environment.
In October of 2002 God allowed me to take
part in The Mid-Night Golf Program. This
program taught me how to love myself. Be-
fore the program I felt abandoned, confused,
unloved, and like a failure. The Lord used the
program's mentors and participants to em-
brace me with love and show me a whole new
way of life. I made a decision to change my
life around not only for me but for my family
as well. God was truly working on my behalf!
That same year on August 7th at a bible camp
in Detroit, MI. I gave my life to Christ! It was
the greatest moment of my life! Words can
not explain the way I felt!
While overcoming many of life's hurdles I
was able to bring my grades up from a 2.0 to
a 3.8. I was the first to graduate from High
School in my family. I was awarded a scholar-
ship to Benedict College in Columbia, South
Carolina to have the privilege of playing on
a college Golf team. I have succeeded in the
sport of golf in many ways. A few of my ac-
complishments are becoming the first female
Shalice
RAVENELL
I R E S P O N D E D T O G O D ' S L OV E