Finding Yourself with God’s Love and Direction – IW EP006 with Alycia Johnson, Part 2

by Kelly W. | May 29, 2023 | Daily Walk, Podcast

Kelly: Welcome to the I Witness  Podcast. I’m your host, Kelly Jo Wilson, and this is the show for women who struggle to accept their worth but want to embrace their gifts and share their witness for Jesus. We have a great show today, and it’s actually part two of my interview with Alycia Johnson. Alycia is the CEO at Tirzah Ministries, and she’s also the co-founder of Tirzah Place, which is a home for teenage mothers.

I talk with Alycia about embracing God’s love and calling against all odds. In part one, Alycia initially told us a bit about her family and her backstory, and what guided her to become the CEO at Tirzah. She also shares about Jesus and how her faith was tested through the different churches that she was a part of growing up and the church that she was a part of later in her life.

This is part 2, where Alycia discusses how she has carried out her God-given calling and provides some resources and tips on how you can too.

Listen to Part 2 of the interview here:

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Interview with Alycia Johnson

Kelly: When did you first start the Tirzah Ministries while you were going to school? Is that how you got connected with people and started it?

Alycia: Well, that is a starting point while I was there. Actually, God completely orchestrates my life. People are like, you have to apply for jobs. I have applied for jobs before, but it really is like God just drops things in my lap.

All the professors are like, “You’re crazy. You’re graduating early and moving to Kentucky in the middle of the winter. You’re not even sure you’re accepted to this college and are just going to live there. So you’re taking all your stuff down with you for Christmas.”

I was like, yep, going through.  

Kelly: I love it. I love it. That blind obedience is the best.

Obedience to God’s calling can take you to unexpected places

Alycia: It really is. Because you don’t know what’s on the other side of it. It can only be good because you have no clue at this point.

I moved there, got accepted, and found a place right away. The day before I moved in was Christmas, and I was looking for jobs. I was trying to find somewhere, and this place appeared.

I had these rules, but you can’t make rules with God, even so, I always try. They were: I would never work in a residential home and did not think I was strong enough to deal with teenagers. So while I was searching, God was like, apply for this job.

Making rules with God doesn’t work

It just kept popping up on all these sites. It was Christmas day, and I was applying for jobs. They were looking for a third shift worker that’s 23 years old, and I was 21, not 23. They wanted you to work all night in a residential home for teen moms.

I thought it aligned with my passion, but this violates all the rules, and I’m too young. There’s no way this wasn’t going to happen. I applied for the day job that you could be 21 years old.

But when I sent it at 2:00 AM, the man who runs it with his wife messaged me. He said, “Hey, I got your application. Would you like to try out for the third shift position?”

Kelly: Especially because he knows you’re up at 2AM. He’s thinking you’re already up. You might as well do that shift. That is funny.

Alycia: I thought, okay, well, this is it. There was no stopping at that point. So I worked there for two and a half years. It was the greatest experience.

I found out later they opened the year before I was born, right down the road from where my family’s from.

Kelly: Wow. That is so neat.

You find God’s love in other people

Alycia: It was really powerful when I realized that. I see God’s hand in their ministry. Even now, they’re really flourishing and growing. Their heart to minister to people is so genuine. It’s a husband and wife, and their story is amazing.

I’m not going to spend an hour on their story, but I could because there just an amazing couple.

Kelly: You just have to come back. That’s all that means.

Alycia:  Yes, for sure. Because they’re incredible people, and they inspired me. I tell people not to discredit a man’s involvement in a women’s ministry in the right way.

Because he told me that I was strong enough to do that job. She could have told me, but in all honesty, she’s actually more the tough one because you gotta be that way with these girls, and he’s a gentle father figure. He said, “You’re young. You’re quiet. But you know what? I think we are going to feed you to the wolves and leave you, and you’ve got this. I will be there.”

When you do the work, you’ll find God’s love alongside you

He was there, even at 2:00 AM. If needed, I could call him. There was a tornado once in the middle of the night, and I was alone with all these girls. I picked up the phone and called him because I wanted someone to talk to that wasn’t a teenager. He was someone I could rely on.

He believed in me, and she also did, but there was a lot of power in him being the first person I interacted with. I left for Wisconsin but kept in touch with them. I still do.

That’s what inspired me to pursue the home for teen moms.

I moved back to where my family lives now in Milwaukee. The first job I had was with someone I connected with years ago. I wasn’t for sure accepted to the job, didn’t have a place to live, had a place picked out, and moved back to Wisconsin.

God knew the details because my first client in Wisconsin was 11 years old.

I couldn’t even imagine because I was doing home visitation, and there was nowhere for her to stay. So we called foster care, probably about 20 different calls about this pregnant 11-year-old girl, and no one ever took us seriously. Even teachers called. She left her parents’ home because her mom said, if you can’t take care of your younger siblings, I don’t want you here.

She said I’m not the parent of my younger siblings. Her mom said she was out. She stayed with her grandma, and she wasn’t going to school. I had someone try to traffic her, and she called me because I was the person she was closest to. Even though she only saw me every week once a week.

Alycia found herself sharing God’s love through the pro-life movement

I would pick her up and take her in my car, and we did our best to make sure everything was legal since she was 11 and I was driving her around. It was horrible for her. I thought, why are there no resources like this? Why is there no one doing anything about these teenage girls?

I saw it at home back in Kentucky, and I’m like, there’s a solution.

I might have been 23 years old, but why not try to start at home? We’re still fundraising because it was another girl and me, and running those homes is expensive.

It’s still in the fundraising stage, but it’s been so much prayer. I know there’s a need. So I know God will do it, and he’ll make it all happen at the right time.

God works through your unique experiences

But I see God’s hand in bringing me through my family’s story. Through the home in Kentucky and back into Wisconsin.

I saw a huge need for teenage parents, whom I happen to be the daughter of, and have spent these years working with this home. It’s just mind-boggling how God does that. Because he knows your story.

You can’t make that up. That’s when you know it’s God. I can’t take credit for any of that because I don’t get to take credit for who I was born to or where I’m from, so there’s never a point in my life where I can be like, “Well, I did that.” Because it’s so clear I did not do it.

Kelly: Oh yeah, He’s woven such a passion and interwoven you in many different situations to grow your experience. The best way to get you to experience how to do this beautiful ministry is to thrust you into situations where you have to do it.

I’m so grateful for people like you running these ministries in these homes and outreach and providing these resources for people like this 11-year-old girl. Because that’s an easy situation for people to turn their heads to because you people think somebody else will do it.

God knows your heart when He nudges you. You find God’s love within you.

But God knows your heart and knows Alycia will be the one to do it. I know it. I know she’s going to do it.

I’m so grateful to you for being that person for her. Even seeing her once a week, she trusted you enough to confide in and see you.

She obviously really wanted help because it takes a lot to even ask for help. But then to come consistently … It’s just so heartbreaking for somebody to be in a spot like that, especially a child. I love what you’re doing. I think it’s just amazing.

What was the place of your first job? I want to include it in the show notes. What is their ministry?

Alycia: It’s called All God’s Children.

Kelly: So we’re almost at time, but on this journey you’ve been through, you said you’ve seen a lot of God’s love and grace. You thought about what God said in Genesis about what was meant for evil, but God meant for good.

Was there a verse that stood out to you while you were trying to find your way, experiencing these situations? Especially with your grandmother and your parents. Was there a verse you always remembered that stuck out to you?

Once you find God’s love in your heart, you’ll want to share it with the world

Alycia: The verse for me was Esther 4:14, which I see as a double-edged sword. Depending on the season, it can be bad and good for my life.  

It says, “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this.”

That verse to me is like, how could I be silent about what God’s done. Yes, there were terrible things that happened in childhood. While I talk of the positives of what I enjoyed, growing up in a really traumatic community, there were also many negatives. There were challenges with all of us being a really young family.

Walking through grief with my grandmother and the different challenges we’ve gone through together.

But how could I be silent when a whole generation needs to see that?

It became so clear to me with the Dobbs ruling.

God strategically placed me in this job, working in the streets, canvassing, knocking on doors, and telling people about the pro-life movement when that law was overturned.

Being in the streets with these people who have lobbied for years was so powerful for me. Knowing that God knew the timing for this home for teen moms because, before this season, people wouldn’t have been as aware of this issue.

Now, because of the ruling, people are abundantly aware there’s a need, and I truly believe it stops the need for abortion by empowering teenagers.

God uses you to share a powerful message of hope.

This is your first pregnancy, but you can plan the next one. Most of the older women I worked with had their first pregnancy as a teenager. So I might not be opening a hundred centers or homes, but simply sharing my family’s story to say, “You can do it. You can be the one that changes that pattern. You can be the one that starts something new and grow together.”

There’s no condemnation over my grandmother’s story.

We all love and value her, and she’s been such an amazing person in my life. My mom has a degree as a medical assistant now. My dad has a degree as a maintenance technician, and my sister has an early childhood degree. So we actually all have college degrees. We’re still a fairly young family.

You can change those patterns and not let one thing define you.

Don’t let having a child stop you from becoming who you’re supposed to be. It’s an addition, a blessing. It’s not something holding you back from forever.

Kelly: That’s so powerful, Alycia. Thank you so much for what you do and just saying that. I think women really need to hear that, especially young women who have made mistakes in the past, whether it be abortions or just other mistakes.

They need to hear that, especially from a Christian who is just sharing God’s love and grace like you are through this home and these ministries. Your whole family, really. I think that that’s fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.

So if a young person finds herself pregnant and is listening to this today. Or even a woman who maybe has been like your grandma and had gone through an abortion or is really struggling, do you have a takeaway that you would want to share to encourage her?

You are not condemned for your choices but accepted through God’s love and grace

Alycia: I wish that someone had told my parents back in the day about pregnancy centers. What people don’t know is there are actually over a thousand in the nation, and they outnumber Planned Parenthood significantly.

I have worked with them for years, and they’re the most amazing places. I would say go to one, even if you’ve had an abortion. They actually have programs for that. They have healing retreats.

If you’re pregnant, you don’t need to have an unplanned pregnancy.

You can be pregnant, bring your husband, and get a free ultrasound. I sound a bit like a marketing advertisement, but I wish people understood the love in those buildings.

I have never been to a pregnancy center where they said we are here to make money or for a cause.

I’ve met hundreds of women working with pregnancy centers, and everyone says, “I just want to love and support another woman and her story.” I’ve watched them help women move furniture to get into new homes or sit in labor and delivery rooms.

You’ll find people who want to help you because of God’s love within them

They are there for you because they love Jesus. They don’t show condemnation, and the centers are free. You’re not charged anything. They get nothing out of it. It’s simply because they’re there to love you. So call one. There is one in your community.

It’s not very well advertised because they’re not great at marketing, but they’re too busy loving people.

Kelly: I’ll put some links in the show notes for resources. That’s wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing that, Alycia. That is wonderful. And I love hearing about your experience with that because there probably is a lot of fear because there’s fear of the unknown.

If you don’t know these places exist, you don’t even know to reach out and ask. But especially for kids, younger teenagers going through this, they don’t know. They don’t know what they don’t know sometimes, actually all of us really. 

Don’t be afraid to reach out for help. You’ll notice God’s love and direction in unlikely places.

I’ll put links to your beautiful Bible verse too.

So is there any final encouragement you would like to give or any final acknowledgments you want to share before we end today?

Alycia: I talked a lot about my journey from the church through the hard things I’ve been through. I prefer not to name the church I’m at right now because I enjoy the anonymity a little bit. But I want to acknowledge that I now have an amazing church that has supported me.

It’s growing, and I’m happy to keep getting put on stages there.

I have to say it’s a testimony of finding God’s love in a humble pastor who’s a bit awkward, actually, and I’m sorry to him in advance for that.

But those qualities in him made him the perfect person for me to have as a pastor after everything I’d been through. So that shaped a new journey for me to feel comfortable and safe in a church again. So there is a right church for you and a right community of God for you.

You have to find what is best for your story and journey now. I’m super grateful for the many pastors and women in ministry who empowered me. So don’t let one bad experience keep you from the good ones.

Kelly: Oh, that’s great. That is so encouraging. I feel like that happens, especially when you put your trust in a church and find out you have a different perspective later.

Sometimes it can really turn you from the church and from God altogether.

So I love your testimony of that. I appreciate you being here, Alycia. I did want to mention that Alycia has a book called Becoming: A 20-Day Devotional.

Why don’t you tell us about the book before we go today?

Alycia:  The book is about those things to guide young adult women because, while people have heard my family’s story, my story has been more about learning not to be a perfectionist, finding God’s love, and putting my identity solely in him.

It’s a 20-day devotional for young adult women to help them find God’s love and what he has called them uniquely to do. I share stories from my journey.

Kelly: That’s wonderful. Thank you so much, Alycia, for being here today.

I appreciate your testimony, and I just appreciate your wonderful, beautiful story and the mission and the ministry that you are doing. Thank you so very much. I am so grateful to you and your whole family for everything you’ve done.

Alycia: Thank you so much. It was a pleasure to be on here and super fun.

Kelly: I hope you enjoyed today’s show. Our show is brought to you today by the Wilson Shop on Etsy. Beautiful designs and encouraging words can change the world. If you’re looking for positive messaging on your favorite apparel, journals, and home decor, visit the wilson shop.com.

If this episode encouraged you, please consider sending it to one friend you think would benefit from what we’ve discussed. I’m so grateful for this time with you, and thank you for listening.

Listen to Part 1 of the interview with Alycia Johnson

Bible Verses for Encouragement:

Genesis 50:20, NKJV, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is to this day, to save many people alive.”

2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.”

Esther 4:14, “For if you remained completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Resources for You:

Crisis pregnancy centers, the national map

Pregnancy center information through Care.Net

Becoming: A 20-Day Devotional

Join author Alycia Johnson on a 20-day journey to discover who you are becoming! Using stories from growing up in the inner city and the country, working in ministry, and helping moms/babies across the states, Alycia shows you who she is becoming. This biography is separated into daily devotionals so you can look to your past, see your present, and dream of who God wants you to become in the future!

Where to find Alycia Johnson

Visit Alycia at Wonderfully Made or Tirzah Ministries

Connect with Alycia via Instagram