Isabelle’s relationship with Amy began in the shadow of loss. In August 2021, she had to send the message no one wants to send: telling Amy that Carol — her faithful online mentor of two years — had passed away from Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Amy was shaken. She wasn't just losing a friend; she was losing a lifeline. When Isabelle asked to pick up where Carol left off, Amy opened the floodgates. Their first exchange didn't happen while Amy was safe at home, but while she was lying in a hospital bed, recovering from self-harm that had nearly ended her life.
After navigating the wreckage of Amy's past for a few messages, Isabelle offered the only thing she knew could help: she asked to bring Amy's situation before God.
Her reply was cold. Amy didn't believe God was there for her. She told Isabelle she could pray, but that "it would not make a difference." She was hostile, even indifferent.
But Isabelle took that permission and ran with it. From that moment on, every email ended with a specific, Scripture-focused prayer. She didn't use generic phrases; she mentioned the attributes of God that spoke directly to Amy's pain.
Two months later, the tone shifted. A haunting question began to appear in Amy’s emails: What happens to a person who commits suicide?
Isabelle didn't shy away. She held the line, painting the picture of the true choice before us: an eternity spent in God’s presence and in his service on a renewed earth, or a "second death" for those who've refused this free, gracious offer of perfect deliverance from all evil. The fact that Amy kept writing back proved she wasn't ready to die.
Slowly, the wall cracked. Amy read an article Isabelle wrote about forgiveness and found it inspiring. She clicked links to Christian songs. She watched the Jesus Film. Her hostility had evaporated, replaced by quiet curiosity.
Then, the breakthrough happened. Friends shared the Gospel with Amy face-to-face, and this time, the seed fell on ready soil. The woman who once said prayer made no difference was now attending church and reading the Bible whenever she wasn't in the hospital!
This isn't a fairy tale ending; it’s a real one. Amy still fights the urge to self-harm and moves between her home and the psychiatric ward. But she no longer faces the darkness alone.
It took six years — beginning with Carol and continuing with Isabelle — for Amy to come to Jesus. This is the "long game" of online mentoring: walking patiently with compassion and prayer, from indifference to grace.
Your support allows our mentors to stay the course with people like Amy, no matter how long the journey takes. Will you give today to help us offer hope to those who are deeply suffering?