Cassie’s Testimony               My name is Cassie.  I’m 27 years old.  My story begins when I was around four years old.  Both my parents were drug addicts.  They divorced and left my sister and me to be adopted and raised by our grandparents.  Mimi and Granddaddy were godly people loved us and raised us in the church.  When I was nine years old I walked the aisle at church and gave my heart to Jesus as best I knew how.              Even though I was always in church and with church friends I began experimenting with marijuana and alcohol when I was 13.  I was pretty much a normal teenage girl until age 15 when I was sexually molested by a woman in our church.  She wooed me and convinced me that homosexuality was not wrong and after all, that was just the way I was born.  Engaging in that sinful behavior really opened the door for my heart and life to Satan, the enemy.  I was confused, depressed and rebellious as I tried to discover who I really was.             My Mother came back into my life about that time and she really tried to keep me from making bad choices and continuing on my path to destruction, but I would not listen to her.  I continued in my rebelliousness, but when I eventually identified my predator, my mother pressed charges and church lady who seduced me into the homosexual lifestyle was convicted and went to jail.              The year I turned 18 I stayed pretty close to home.  I felt so guilty that my parents were paying for private school tuition that I finally dropped out of school, went to work and remained depressed most of the time.  Life was not at all what I wanted it to be.  What had happened to my childhood dream of getting married and raising a family?             Drugs provided a regular way of escape for me and all my friends.  Still clinging to my dream of marriage and a family, I fell for a handsome man who was one of my drug partners.  Everyone said we looked like the perfect couple.  But life was far from perfect.  After two years I still struggled with who I really was.  Was I heterosexual or homosexual?  My constant state of confusion made me a prime target for another woman.  Her extravagant lifestyle and generous nature lured me to end my marriage and become her companion.  My family begged me to get out of that relationship, but I always found a way to justify my behavior and ignored their pleas. Drugs, alcohol, expensive gifts and trips kept me tied to that relationship for six years.  But as the drug abuse escalated, I began to question myself.  Even in all my sin, I knew the Lord was dealing with me to get out, but I felt obligated.  I was in bondage.  In the end, my partner actually kicked me out because my drug use had become so totally out of control. I actually felt relieved.  As I was trying to get myself together, someone told me about Teen Challenge, a one-year program for overcoming addiction and learning to walk with God.  I was ready to get my life together so I signed up for and completed Teen Challenge thinking I would really change my life.  I sincerely wanted to change, but throughout the year I held on to the notion that I could say the right things and keep my life the way I wanted it.  I never surrendered my life and my will to Jesus Christ.  I only pretended to.  That deception gave Satan the stronghold that put me back into depression.  At the end of the year, I was still trying to be my own god and went home and right back into drug abuse. A friend from Teen Challenge recognized that I was in trouble and suggested that I get in touch with Buried Treasures Home.  After deliberately turning my back on God and doing things my way, it was hard to make the decision to go to yet another one-year program.  I really struggled, but this time I was praying about making the right choices and a lot of people were praying for me.  Today I am living at Buried Treasures Home and I have given my heart and my life to Jesus, surrendering daily to His will for me.  Praise the Lord, I can honestly say, I am sold out to God! I am thankful for Buried Treasures Home, a place where God is healing and restoring my life.  I am excited to discover each new day what God has in store for me.  My prayer is that God will allow me to minister to young people who are being taken captive into a destructive lifestyle.  I know the fright, the shame and the total shock of being molested and the guilt that kept me from telling anyone.  I want others to know that God’s power and strength to resist the temptations of the evil one are ours when we surrender and learn to trust and obey as Jesus leads us moment by moment into oneness with Him. BACK TO THE TESTIMONIES MAIN PAGE