Lavora had a $20.00 rock of cocaine in her hand, and as she started to smoke, she said, “See, Lord, here I am talking to you with dope in my hand and asking you to save me, but I remembered you said ‘Come as you are.’” In her state of mind she thought she was right.
No one knew what Lavora was going through in the inner city of Cleveland. She once held down jobs, but when she worked in the bars, she would get drunk. Then a boyfriend introduced her to drugs. Her life sank even lower after he was killed in a car accident. Devastated, she went from pills to heroin to crack. She lied and stole whatever she could just to buy drugs.
But the Lord answered Lavora’s desperate prayer for salvation. Two years in a drug rehabilitation center helped her to get sober, although she thought she would fall away once she left. But the Lord showed her the consequences if she did: loss of her apartment, her freedom, and her peace of mind. Lavora said, “I saw these things, and I knew that I did not want to do this anymore.”
Through her aunt, Lavora found Faith Baptist Community Center, a ministry started by missionary Norma Nulph. Since that time, Lavora has stayed sober and regularly attends church and takes Bible college classes.
Lavora says, “But through the grace of God and Faith Baptist Community Church and Miss Norma, I made it out of the world—a journey that was going no where.…I felt like I was going through the valley of the shadow of death, and I was afraid. But as the Lord took me by my hand, I knew I would not have to fear evil. Anymore this is just a small part of what the Lord has brought me out of, but I hope it will help someone that needs help.”