A Transformed Life: Gio

A transformed life: Gio

At His Mansion, God uses gospel-centered community to restore broken lives. This transformation includes everyone, from Residents to staff, as the community grows into Christ (Ephesians 4:15-16). Using community, God has completely reframed Giovanni Mercado’s life.

Giovanni lived in isolation for fifteen years, taking care of his sick mother. When she passed away, grief nearly destroyed him, until he joined a residential program in Massachusetts called Place of Promise. From there God brought him to His Mansion as a Servant Leader in July 2023 to build his relationship with the Lord.

Very quickly, Giovanni sensed God’s love for him through the community. “At first, I thought it was an act,” he says. “But after a while, I realized that their heart is for real; it’s actually the Lord loving through them.”

God uses community to also speak the truth in love. “It wasn’t until I got here that I learned that I am valued and the Lord created me for a reason,” Giovanni testifies. “God has challenged me in places that He brought into the light, and He brought the right people here to help me through this process in growing in relationship with the community. It’s pretty amazing how He uses everybody.”

While Giovanni used to just “live and let live,” God showed him how the lives of Christ followers are intertwined. “Community is a big part of the healing process here,” he observes. “I think it is very important to have a lot of like-minded people going through the same journey together and being willing to help one another when they need it.” As he has learned to trust God through others, God has continued to transform him. “I used to not really like people,” Giovanni admits, “and here I learned to love people.”

When a community is centered around Jesus, healing and restoration take place. “At the end of the day, it’s all about Jesus,” Giovanni states. “And if you are willing to put yourself second, God is going to do amazing work with you.”

Healing in the context of community

“Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.” Psalm 96:12

Gio is only one of many people over the years who have spoken to an experience of coming alive as they engage in and are being loved by the community here at His Mansion. So many, like Gio, come from painful, isolated pasts. Many have given up on having deep, healthy relationships with others, and have believed lies about themselves that keep them alone and self-protected.

The idea that true healing, the deepest and most lasting kind, can only take place in the context of community is one of the foundational truths of His Mansion. As the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is engaged in perfect, loving communion for all eternity, God has made the way for His children to be invited into loving relationships. However, most of the emotional, psychological and spiritual wounds of our Residents have been caused by or happened in the context of relationships with others.

Thus, Residents can best heal and grow as they seek to have new experiences with people who love them through the power of Jesus. This is why our Residents live in dorms together, why the whole community works, eats and worships together, and why our Servant Leaders and even staff live on this campus alongside one another.

Addiction and trauma cripple the soul by turning it inward on itself. Healing in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit not only repairs wounds that cannot be mended in any other way, but frees people to care sacrificially and engage lovingly with those outside of themselves. As we see God’s healing work take place in the hearts of our Residents, and even in Servant Leaders and staff, their self-focus lessens and their hearts are moved in compassion for one another. It is not the self-preoccupation that our culture values that brings out our “true selves”; it is living life with Jesus Christ, with and through others, that provides the freedom to be who we were actually created to be. This is what is meant by healing in the context of community.

Annual Summer Counseling Seminar

Saturday July 20th, 9am to 4pm. This year’s speaker is Andrew Daley, Executive Director of Austin Stone Counseling Center, speaking on the topic of Gender Identity. The day is not just for counselors, but is open to all.

Happening on The Hill

• Planting season has arrived. About 25,000 plants will go into the ground over the next two months.
• Preparations are being made for the June 21st program graduation. Graduates are preparing their testimonies, the ministry is preparing for the celebration, and friends and families are preparing for their travels to His Mansion for the ceremony.
• Work Groups are beginning to arrive for their summer trips.
• His Mansion’s summer counseling seminar takes place on July 20th.

Prayer requests

• For the June graduates, that they get settled into life after His Mansion and that the Lord establishes their next steps.
• For Frank Vitale as he wraps up his time as Executive Director, and that God would lead Frank to the next opportunity.
• For the staffing needs on The Hill, that God will send workers for the harvest.
• That the Lord would continue to bless His Mansion financially. As program numbers increase, so do financial needs.