Support Sophia's Journey to Bible College

Update: Sophia has nearly achieved her goal, thanks to scholarship and donations here and from outside GoFundMe! She’s booked a flight and is all set to go!

We’re hoping to raise $700. This will help cover her Outreach week (a missions trip) and other travel expenses. We’re in the final stretch!

She flies out September 4th and semester begins the following week. Thank you for helping make this happen! We’re all thrilled!

We are raising funds for Sophia Hagelin to go to Calvary Chapel Bible College for fall 2025.

The breakdown of funds is as follows:

- Deposit: $775

- Flight: $800–1200

- Laptop: $900–1000

- Tuition: ~$4306

Sophia is a bright, intelligent, compassionate and quirky young woman, striving for a bright future, a deeper relationship with Jesus, and a thriving life after surviving an extremely difficult childhood and young adulthood.

It all started when I (Natasha Kennedy) was struggling with extreme health troubles. I was needing help with childcare, and I reached out to my cousin (Sophie) for help. She was in Texas at the time, and she dropped everything to come up and help me. She was my Mary Poppins; she came up and showered my children with love and quality time, as well as encouraging me in my dark time.

But before she came up, Sophia had been stuck in a whirlwind of troubles, mental health crisis (landing her in mental health hospitals twice), addiction, substance abuse, and trauma. From a very young age, she was introduced to substances, and throughout many instabilities, she relied on them to get her through. When she came to us, she had a deep desire to get out, and asked if we would disciple her and get her on a better path.

I dont think I have met anyone with the drive that Sophia has to grow and thrive. She pushed so hard to detox the substances, honor our families rules, pursue church and a relationship with God, and sit through many talks and tutorials with me as she worked through her many traumas.

Sophia had been hurt in many deep ways, but none of these things held her back as she clung to Jesus and actively worked to be free of them. In the two years she lived with us and became essentially one of our children, she adopted our culture and treasured every gift she was given.

Sophia is now clean, she has a strong community, she has a relationship with Jesus where she is actively seeking him in his word, and she is continually blessing us with her compassion, strength, wisdom, and magnificent love of life. I've never known anyone quite like her---she sees the world in such a unique way and brings joy to any room she enters.

We would happily keep her with us forever. She helps me homeschool, she's a strong pillar for my children, and she makes our home such a happy place. But when we invited her up here, our hope was for something better than childcare and helping her get healthy. We wanted to prepare her for a profoundly beautiful life that she could pursue. Before she came to us, she never thought she would live to the age of 20. Now, she wants to pursue the humanities and art history, and she has dreams of a life bringing beauty into this world. As she turns 21 this month, she is clean, accepted into Bible College, and is ready to bravely take on the world.

Before going on to further studies, she wants to pursue bible college so she can begin life with a strong foundation. She wants everything she does to be rooted in God's word, and from a place where she has a strong relationship with him.

I could not be more proud.

The last thing that needs to happen is raising funds! She doesn't have a whole lot of connections, and as shes been working as our nanny, we have not been able to pay her a whole lot. So, she has not been able to get a job and work to raise funds, because she has generously helped me survive my health issues. So, we are reaching out to anyone who wants to support this young woman who has truly sold everything for the pearl of great price. She is a real example of someone who was stuck in the dark, and has worked her way out with the help of Christ, and is now an entirely new person.

The breakdown of funds is as follows:

- Deposit: $425

- Flight: $800–1200

- Laptop: $900–1000

- Tuition: ~$4306

Please consider helping Sophia reach this goal. Invest in her as I have, and you will see that your investment is not in vain. As you watch her grow, you will see just what a wonderful woman she is, and how much light she brings into this dark world.