Paying Compassion Forward

Hurt, heartbroken, and homeless, Brittney Simpson found herself out of options. Ready to give up, drowning in bitterness and depression, all hope seemed lost.

“I knew there was something better, but I didn’t know how to reach out and get it,” she says. “There was a void in my heart.”

She contacted a pastor in Mississippi, where she lived at the time, and asked for help. That’s when she heard about Teen Challenge, a ministry of Assemblies of God U.S. Missions. After a long week of waiting, she learned of an opening at the rehabilitation facility in Livingston, Tennessee.

After 24 hours of bus rides, she arrived at Teen Challenge of the Upper Cumberland.

Looking back on that day, Simpson, 29, says she is in awe of what happened when she surrendered her life to God. It’s been just under four years since Simpson entered Teen Challenge. Now she works as education director at the center she says saved her life.

“I remember how much God has brought me through and how much forgiveness He has given me that I can now offer to other people,” she says. “It’s taken time because I was very hurt and I had a lot of bitterness. God helped me see things through His eyes.”

Simpson grew up in a blended family, where she says she suffered abuse as a child. For 12 years, Simpson says she was sexually abused. She says her image of love was distorted, and she began seeking improper attention from others. She started using drugs and alcohol as a teenager as a means of escape.

“I’m not a victim of those things, the Lord has made me an overcomer of those things,” she says. “I just needed Jesus.”

She entered a yearlong discipleship program at Teen Challenge in 2013.

“You could just tell this lady was broken, no hope or light in her eyes,” says Tim McLauchlin, Teen Challenge of the Upper Cumberland executive director. “She didn’t know how to receive love.”

Simpson says the discipleship process focused on reading Scripture and learning about God’s purpose for her life. It took her a long time to work through the baggage she carried. She didn’t know how to respond to compassion.

“The staff saw the good in me that I didn’t even see in myself,” Simpson says.

Nearing Teen Challenge graduation, Simpson says seeing the love of God working through others caused her to want to help women in similar situations to what she overcame. She asked McLauchlin for an internship. McLauchlin says Simpson’s transformation since entering the program has been powerful.

“She’s come so far, and God has done so much in her life,” he says. “God has given her the opportunity to give back to others.”

During her internship, she traveled to Ireland for ministry with Global Teen Challenge. She says working with homeless people made a special impact.

“I remember being in that position, feeling like there was no hope,” she says. “I just consider it paying it forward.”

After returning to the States, Simpson became education director of Teen Challenge of the Upper Cumberland. She writes spiritually based curriculum and teaches women at the 11-bed facility for women.

“I was told that I was worthless, that I would not amount to anything,” Simpson remembers. “But the power of God lives in me. I have hope.”

McLauchlin says Simpson’s testimony is an effective example for the women at Teen Challenge.

“That’s the fruit of what God uses this ministry to accomplish,” he says.

Chelsea Hughes is another staffer at the facility whose life has been redeemed.

Christine Temple

Christine Temple is a writer based in southwest Missouri who works as the features editor and audience development director at the Springfield Business Journal. She previously managed communications at Ozarks Food Harvest, worked as a reporter at the Springfield News-Leader, and served as editor of Evangel University's student newspaper, The Lance. Temple graduated from Evangel with a Bachelor's Degree in journalism and was named the Student Journalist of the Year by the Society of Collegiate Journalists in 2013.