Humans of the Church

It’s easy for the Church to paint a picture that we are perfect people living in a perfect community. However, that cannot be further from the truth. The truth is that the church is filled with broken people who are in need of a saviour. This passion project was birthed to tear apart that lie. The goal is to highlight vulnerability and to share stories of people within the church who are in the process of embracing their brokenness.

Ale Aguirre

Before I started my relationship with Jesus, I was in a very painful place and I felt lost. I was diagnosed with depression, anxiety, ADHD and borderline personality disorder. And the way I tried to cope and numb my pain was through drugs, alcohol, and lots of different medications. I was stuck in this loop for four years, and it felt like there wasn't anywhere else for me to go.

When I was in my darkest season. Jesus saved my life multiple times when I really believed that I was dying. Those are the times that I can remember. But I know God saved me more times than I can ever truly know and thank Him for. God protected me even when I turned my back on Him. I used to be angry that he wouldn't take me home with Him, but now I know it's because he had a purpose for me ever since the beginning.

Jesus loved me even when I didn't want Him. And Jesus waited patiently for me when no one else would because he will always leave the 99 to go after the one. Ever since me and God got close again, he's helped me quit my addictions, stop all my medications. He helps me every day that sometimes I'll feel completely happy and filled with a peace that is impossible to describe. He helped me find my purpose again and got me into JIBC so that I can help others, too.

I don't want to spend another day apart from Him. He is the light in the storm. Without him, I would be nothing. Now it's my turn to show him how much I love him by devoting the rest of my life to him. Psalms 23, verse one and four. The Lord is my shepherd. I have all that I need. Even through the darkest valley of life, you are with me.

Mateo Allen

For a long time… probably my whole life, I have silently believed that what matters most in life is my spec sheet. What I have done, my accomplishments, my “trophies.” Work hard, earn your keep and maybe one day people will think you are good enough to keep around

This last season has really undone that belief for me. There comes a point where you look in the mirror and have to face who you are, beyond what you do. Am I the person God made me to be? Or am I so busy trying to prove my worth that I am too busy, self-focused and terrified of failing that I don’t even see the people around me.

I am slowly starting to accept in a way that I never have before, that the issue of my value was and is settled at the cross. I have hurt people deeply. I have been hurt deeply. But regardless, Jesus made me and thought for some reason that I was a good idea despite my wounds and failings. I have nothing to prove to myself, others or him. But I am in awe of how patient Jesus has been with me. How loving, kind, generous, gentle, and convicting at all the same time. I want to be like Him. I want my character to be like Him. I want to know how to be trustworthy, how to love well, how to be patient and be a refuge for others. I have a really long way to go, and each day I realize how far that really is, but the more I see what He is like, the more I have the desire to follow suit - to show others the love and grace He has shown me. I feel like a toddler fumbling around trying to emulate Him, but I’ve begun to realize that He loves me in that so it’s okay to fumble. He will lean in and catch me when I need it, and sometimes He will back off for a moment to let me try standing on my own. But regardless He will always be beside me.