Marissa is excellent at showing up. Need help moving? She’ll be there. Softball team down a player? Give her a call. Have a request you really need prayed over? She’s your girl. 

So when Marissa was invited to an event to learn more about volunteering with YFC, she showed up. When she heard about the need for volunteers at ministry sites across Pierce County, she signed up. 

After onboarding and initial training, Marissa began showing up at Remann Hall with the Juvenile Justice Ministry. Alongside Site Leader Cassi and seasoned volunteers, Marissa walked through the front doors of the detention center for the first time. 

And then she walked through those doors over and over again, showing up for whatever girls were inside that week. Girls awaiting trial, girls who’d run away, girls charged with felonies…each one with a story so different from Marissa’s own. 

Marissa grew up in the church, her mom a children’s pastor, her dad an attorney. She was loved and provided for with a family and community who surrounded her with support. Life has brought challenges, but there have always been people in her corner. 

Despite these differences, Marissa continued to show up for conversation and countless rounds of UNO, never knowing who she’d meet or what she’d hear. She never worried about conversations she couldn’t handle because Cassi and other JJM volunteers were always with her. 

Then one week a few months later, Cassi was at a conference out of town and Marissa’s usual volunteer partner couldn’t make it in. Marissa showed up anyway and found herself at a table with two girls, making conversation and playing UNO like usual…until Jenna began to open up. 

“It was the first time I’d ever met someone who never had a chance.” Marissa says. 

Jenna was smart, caring, and serious. While her friend chattered openly about all the things she’d done with nonchalance, Jenna spoke about her choices with a sense of hopelessness. She didn’t want to be in a juvenile detention center, but she didn’t know how to live a life other than the one that had gotten her there. Growing up in poverty, Jenna had no parents to check on her and guide her, no community connections, and no real friendships. 

As Jenna described her life to Marissa…that she was unloved, unseen, and worthless… Marissa began to speak truth. She told Jenna that God has not forgotten her. He sees her, sees her mistakes, and loves her deeply. She is His creation and precious to Him.

The rest of the week Marissa thought about and prayed for Jenna. While she prayed, she wished someone else had been there with her. What had she really accomplished? Those words, that truth, could not have been enough. Surely someone more experienced would have had better words to say or done something differently. 

Marissa carried that prayer into church on Sunday.  “God, You should have sent someone else. Why didn’t You send someone else?” 

As the worship music played, a strong voice cut through Marissa’s thoughts: “Because I sent YOU.” 

She had never heard God speak to her more clearly than He had in that moment. He could have chosen anyone to speak those words to Jenna, but he had sent Marissa. She hadn’t derailed His plan, she was His plan. 

Because Marissa showed up, Jenna heard the truth about a God who dearly loves her. And because Marissa showed up, she heard God’s voice in a way she never had before.

Jenna was not in Remann Hall when Marissa returned the next week. We aren’t sure where she is, but we’re praying for her. Our JJM team is watching for Jenna in case she resurfaces in the juvenile justice system. We are actively equipping volunteer leaders to show up in more Pierce County schools, neighborhoods, and detention centers to build relationships and communicate the same truth Marissa shared with Jenna so that no kid feels unseen or alone. 

Pierce County youth need more–more relationships, more truth, more hope… will you show up?