Dakota’s Second Year: A Step of Faith

Hello, my name is Dakota Young. I am 29 years old and I am from Alabama.

I would first like to thank God for how far He has brought me and for even allowing me to fulfill His calling over my life. He receives the glory for redeeming me, giving me another chance and rewriting my story.

I was born into a family that had many different and confusing dynamics because of the way it was structured. My parents separated when I was 3 years old and ever since I can remember I struggled to control and understand my emotions.

In seeking acceptance, at the age of 14, I began to smoke weed, which eventually led to taking pills, hallucinogenic drugs and sadly, meth and opioids while stuck doing it with a needle. At 17years old I found myself in jail and realized these substances had started to really affect so much in my life.

At 21 years old I found myself in the hospital with my first son and from that very day, it was only him and me for the next 5 years since his mom left the hospital and didn’t come back.

While trying to take care of him, work and battle the grip of addiction my addiction becomes unmanageable.

In 2019 at 24 years old I had a second son, I was still heavily sunk in addiction and had lost all hope that I would ever get out of this addiction alive; not too long after that, I was put in jail for drug trafficking charges.

I had tried everything in me to get clean and I had lost all hope. However, there was an open door for me to attend a Faith-Based program called “His Place” as an extension of my jail time. I had nothing to lose, I needed God and I knew it. I needed a miracle so I could be free from addiction, to be able to contribute something that mattered to this society and to become the father my sons needed.

God met me while I was there and He did a work in my heart that has stayed with me till this day. I was never the same after that. I began to read the scriptures and find light and understanding of what the purpose of life is and what it is all about overall.

He opened doors for me to attend a one to two-year program Bible School which in itself was so hard for me to believe that someone like me was having this opportunity. The court judge who oversees my case sent a message saying that if I finished one year at Bible School he would drop my charges.

My first year was an extremely challenging year for me as the Holy Spirit exposed so many wounded areas in my heart that needed healing, trauma, abandonment issues, old ways of thinking, sin, guilt, shame etc. He made a way for me to get reunited with my two sons after a long time, around 2 years of separation as I was working on getting clean and established on my faith and new walk with Christ.

I graduated from completing one year of the school which was a huge accomplishment for me. However, I believe God is calling me and has been calling me to go through freshmen and senior year at Summit International School of Ministry from the start. There is a huge pull and understanding after this summer that I am not quite done yet. I believe there is a purpose for me to cone back and finish the 2nd and last year.

I have seen His glory during my first year and His work in my heart but I know He wants me to separate this time to speak to me in an even deeper way at this place. He is still digging deep and I am still in need of locking myself in alone with God because I have been given a way out of the pits of addiction and I want to meet secure my place and foundation in the lord with no cracks and have face-to-face with Him and dedicate this time to him and only him. I want to have a deeper revelation of Christ and the cross and to live for the benefit of others.

I want to help those who struggle with addiction because I understand deeply how miserable that life is. I want to continue seeing God's redemptive hand in my life as he teaches me how to lead a Christ-centered family in His ways.

I don’t have the finances to pay for everything that is needed to attend Summit International School of Ministry for my second year.

If the Lord puts it in your heart to help me in my walk with God, I would be immensely thankful. Prayers are appreciated whether you can donate or not.

Any donations to support my studies can be directly sent to Summit International School of Ministry through Push pay. Whenever a donation to the school is made they just ask for the student’s name at the bottom so please if you are able put Dakota Brandon young and let me know or them who donated so I can write you all personal thank you letters from the bottom of my heart

God bless you and thank you.

https://pushpay.com/g/summit