Stories of Faith from the Coffeehouse

Roxy Lathrom allowed me to interview her when she was visiting the FireEscape. I asked her about what she believes and what her family believes.

"My parents and me don’t talk- I don’t know what they believe. I go to youth group with my friend, but she doesn’t really talk about what she believes, she is made to go to church by her parents." 

She was a little fidgety and worried about not having anything to say as we sat in a booth in the coffeehouse, "Maybe God is real," she said, "maybe not. I’ve not had anything good happen to me so-" She paused and I encouraged her and she shared some details about her life with me. Then I asked her if any religion was appealing to her, if she knew of a church she would want to be a part of and she replied by shaking her head, "Sometimes Christians act mean."

I asked her if there were times when she had to make a decision or if she was going through something hard if she thought about faith. She thought for a moment and said, "If I think about faith sometimes it depends on my mood. Sometimes I think about praying when I’m having a bad day, but I don’t know what to say."

Conversations like this are eye opening. It can be hard to begin a conversation, but those I spoke to were very willing to share. I'm so glad Roxy was honest with me and shared her story. Talking with her made me want to be more bold to ask others around me about their story. It made me want to be more open to share my faith in Jesus Christ that gives me hope during my darkest days. I was able to share some encouraging words with Roxy on the night of the interview and I was able to tell her that I would be praying for her.


Photo by Kira Stevens