Meghan Collier became a ward of the state when she was nine years old. Meghan’s parents were sent to prison and Meghan, along with her brothers and sisters, were placed in foster homes. Hoping that Meghan could avoid the harassment her older sister had experienced in public school, her foster mother gave her the option of going to Cascade Christian Academy (CCA) in Wenatchee, Wash. Meghan chose CCA.
Meghan discovered Jesus in the Bible classes at CCA. When her parents were released from prison, she went to live with them and attended a public high school in Bothell, Wash. She says she felt herself slipping away from God just as soon as she got there. “While I was still so young in the faith and not exactly sure where I stood, I was put into this situation where I had to choose to stand up for God, which I was not prepared to do, and that was very hard.”
Wanting to reconnect with God, she told her parents that she wanted to graduate from a private school. They agreed, but told her they could not support her. She went back to live with her foster mother, who worked with CCA principal Doug Brown to make it happen.
In April of her senior year Meghan was baptized in the cold water of Puget Sound at a spiritual weekend retreat. “It was awesome,” she said.
Meghan, a freshman social work major at Walla Walla College, says that with Jesus “her life has meaning. It is as simple as that!”
Meghan Collier says that her life now has meaning with Jesus in her life.
