WHO WE ARE

How it all began…

As I sit down to write out the story of how we got here, I’m reflecting on the journey. It has not always been easy throughout my life, and through this process of saying yes to the calling God had placed on my heart. In 2016, I went to Ghana along with my parents and my friend. This held special significance because I was adopted from Ghana, along with my twin brother, in 2002. I had visited multiple times growing up, but the Lord started a special work in my heart on this trip. There was a group of us that went out to a village to do children’s ministry. As we were finishing up the last song, I noticed a girl in the back of the room, much older than the rest of the children who were there. After the service, I walked up to her and began talking to her. I realized that she spoke English quite well, and as we talked, she began to share her story with me…

Her mother had died when she was a little girl, and she grew up with her dad as well as four of her other siblings. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said, “Susanna, please, please take me with you.” I asked her why, and she began to tell me the most heartbreaking part of her story. She spoke of how her dad and her uncle had been raping her for many years and how she wanted to escape the situation. I was only 15 and didn’t know what exactly to do. I told her that I am so sorry for what had happened to her. I wished that there was something more that I could do. I asked her if I could pray for her, and she said yes. Little did I know, years down the road, that her story was going to truly impact my life.

A few months after we returned home from Africa, I kept thinking about the girl and her story. It is related to a part of my story I try to not dwell on - I had a similar experience in my childhood. All I could do was pray that the Lord would protect her and provide a way for her to be able to get out. One night, the Lord gave me a dream. In this dream, I heard the Lord’s voice very clearly. He said, “Susanna, I am calling you back home to your people to start a home for girls who have been impacted by sexual abuse.” My response to that calling from the Lord was absolutely not. I had a list of reasons why I felt so inadequate to be carrying out this calling. I wrestled with this for close to a year before I said, “Yes, Lord, I will obey you in this calling.” He began to work on my life and began to work on this vision.

I was 15 years old when the Lord put this calling on my heart - now, fast-forward 10 years, now I’m married to my husband Sam, and God has brought us so far in pursuit of what He has in store for us. It has been such a journey, and we are in the process of moving back to Ghana in 2027.

Thank you for taking time to read our story. We hope you feel encouraged at the Lord’s work in our lives!

Love, The Hepschmidt’s