When you share what God has done for you, it gives people hope, and it inspires change. That’s what Deborah, a volunteer at the Lighthouse for Women & Children, believes. She’s been volunteering there for years now, holding a class to support women who are struggling with myriad issues.

“I’ve always had a heart for people who didn’t have as much as I was given,” Deborah said.

Deborah has been a part of Celebrate Recovery meetings, which focus on healing from drug and alcohol abuse, trauma, anger, and many other habits, for about eight years.

“I’ve been so helped by it,” said Deborah, who now teaches in Camarillo and at the Lighthouse. “It set me free from so many of my hurts, hang ups and habits, and I just wanted other people to experience it.”

In the past, Deborah held a bible study in Los Angeles for drug addicts and prostitutes for four years before looking to serve closer to home. “I just started looking around the area of where I could be used,” Deborah said. She is a firm believer that what happens in life, good or bad, the lessons can be used for others. Sometimes, volunteering is a way to share those lessons and offer support.

“Whatever God has done in your life is beneficial to somebody else,” Deborah said. “If you can come and give what God has given you, you can make a really make a big difference in someone else’s life.

“It’s real, what he’s doing in your life. And when somebody else can hear that and learn that, it can really start to benefit them. Since God is the expert at healing … if I can show what he’s doing in my life and I encourage someone to let him do it in their lives, then more people can be changed and more people can go help other people.”