Volunteer Barbara Rice has been a witness to radical life transformations for three new friends in Tulsa.

Rice met Karen, Ruby, and Charles through the Tulsa branches of Oklahoma Conference’s Criminal Justice and Mercy Ministries (CJAMM). She is a member of Boston Avenue church and volunteer at Tulsa-St. Luke’s Redemption Church.

Currently, Karen is also a volunteer at Redemption Church, Ruby is a graduate of the Tulsa Exodus House project, and Charles resides at the Exodus House.

As children, all three suffered abuse from addicted adults, Rice learned.

"Karen never experienced a Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthday, or any holiday celebration. That was minor compared to the daily beating, torture, and humiliation she received," Rice described.

"In Ruby’s family, the children were often locked in a bedroom for long periods of time. They might or might not be given food to eat. The children were stripped and whipped daily at the whim of a drunken stepfather. Charles basically raised himself. Between times of drunkenness, Charles’ dad beat him. The father would go to the school, get Charles, and beat him all the way home if the dishes weren’t done. When Charles was very little, his father would wake him up at 3 a.m. to do things."

Rice continued, "The miracle in these three lives is that God plucked each one from the pit and placed them in loving arms. They have found solace in the Body of Christ."

Karen has found help in her Sunday School class and through others at Redemption Church. Charles is learning that God loves him and that the Christian Community stands by him. God has become visible to Ruby through her sponsor-church Sunday School class and the Exodus House family.

"She is amazed that, no matter her past, she is treated with love and respect," Rice said.

God "is truly restoring their lives from the years of neglect and abuse. My three friends are experiencing God’s promise to the Israelites in Joel 2:25: ‘I will give you back what you lost in the years the locusts have eaten.’"

Editor’s note: This story is excerpted, with permission, from the Sept. 26 edition of The Word, the Boston Avenue church newsletter.