By Eden Garcia —
Hayden couldn’t go to sleep.
“I was carrying for a long time this guilt and shame,” Hayden says. “It would keep me up at night. I had done such a terrible thing.
Even though he knew it was wrong because he received Jesus at age 7, Hayden agreed with his girlfriend to have an abortion.
“Neither one of us were financially fit for that and it’s not what we wanted,” Hayden said. “And we ended up deciding to have an abortion.”
He walked away from God starting in middle school and got into partying, drugs, alcohol and sex. He got a girlfriend at his work. With her, they conceived.
The guilt plagued him.
Then he went to Anchor House School of the Bible on Kauaʻi, connected with Kauaʻi Christian Fellowship. For nine months, high school graduates can take advantage of a gap-year ministry apprenticeship to grow in God. Many youths rediscover their faith. There’s surfing, hiking, adventure and fellowship.
“Jesus here has blessed me with such a great community,” Hayden confesses. “They’ve shown me nothing but love, and I’ve learned that he forgives me for what I’ve done. He takes that pain away, he takes that shame
