“The hardest thing I have ever overcome was believing I was worth a better life.” Lakisha Johnson overcame that false belief to become one of the most dynamic life-changers for people who have lost hope than anyone I have ever known.
The young woman now says, “The greatest thing that ever happened to me was that others in Tennessee believed in me so I am living a normal, blessed life today.”
How did Lakisha’s life transform from hopelessness to blessedness?
She was born with fetal alcohol syndrome to a single mother who had four children and was homeless and an alcoholic. Born and raised in Ohio, Lakisha’s family lived anywhere they could, causing Lakisha to not begin school until she was around 9 years old, and not learning to write her name until she was a teenager.
Lakisha was abused in multiple ways from not getting a proper education, to being sexually abused when her mother gave her sexually to friends, to being emotionally abused by all the situations she was exposed to throughout her youth.
When her mother passed away, Lakisha spent more years as a troubled child in foster homes and group homes. She attended many schools, spent time in and out of the hospital and ran away from the group homes where she was placed.
The defining event was when Lakisha got pregnant at age 18 while in Powell High School. She says she had no support but her teacher aide babysat her daughter at the high school so she could attend classes and she graduated from Powell.
Although Lakisha was trying to raise her daughter, she got addicted to pills which continued even after her second daughter was born. Now with two children, she also was using and selling drugs resulting in multiple arrests on different charges.
Finally, on May 14, 2015, she says others showed they believed in her and she found her way to recovery including a relationship with the Lord. She started her recovery journey from that day, but not without major obstacles. She became homeless with her children, going to different shelters and then the Department of Children Services took her children into protective custody.
Lakisha got her children back but relapsed on drugs and lost them a second time.
NA Celebrate Recovery and church “really helped me change my life. I found a true relationship with the Lord and He changed my life.”
In 2018, Lakisha started a blanket of love ministry for all the men and woman sleeping on the streets of Knoxville, Tennessee. She did not want anyone to freeze to death in the winter.
Lakisha says her life has been based around love so she named her ministry The Love Ministry and she showers that love everywhere she goes.
God has blessed The Love Ministry with thousands of blankets that go to individuals on the streets and to those in nursing homes and at dialysis centers. Many have been blessed with The Love Ministry.
Other amazing successes for Lakisha Johnson in her words:
“I thank God for my church families and recovery family today. I am six years sober from all drugs and drinking and smoking cigarettes. I started smoking cigarettes with my birth mother at the age of 5 or 6 years old.
“I was in special needs class all my life and now, I have put myself through ministry school and have my associate degree in ministry.
“I have had my children back from the Department of Children’s Services for five years.
“Some of the biggest things I have overcome were losing everything and gaining it all back, and getting my education. I was on medications for years for PTSD and today I have not been on any PTSD meds in two years and also graduated therapy. Many doctors said I would never be able to live without PTSD medications.
“The government no longer supports me or my kids. They supported us all my life and my children’s lives. I overcame being on Social Security Income and food stamps and have worked the roadways for two years now.
“I love the Lord and He has given me the best mentors and people to love me and help me on my journey of life.”
-
- LaKisha graduating with her two daughter in attendance
-
- Blankets being delivered at Ft. City Presbyterian for Lakisha’s Ministry of Love
-
- Lakisha Johnson
All of us have a story and I want to tell yours! Send them to susan@knoxtntoday.com