Bringing Light to Darkness

Hope brings light to dark places. Pastor Pebbles Thompson, founder of Project Night-Light, is determined to shed light on the dark places that are left when children are the victims of abuse. And she’s doing it one Bag of Hope at a time.

Driven by a belief that children are a blessing from the Lord, Pebbles, along with her husband Darin and children Kennedy (12), Matayia (6), Malachi (5), and Tobias (2), have taken their torch of hope across North Dakota and into Minnesota in an effort to open eyes to the reality of abuse and raise support to care for those that suffer. Their goal is to see Project Night-Light grow to serve children nationwide.

The Burning Bush

Just a few short years ago, in 2008, Pebbles found herself in the midst of what she called her “burning bush moment.” She clearly heard God tell her to start a ministry to help children that have been victims of abuse. At nearly the same time, Darin, who was the family’s breadwinner, found himself unemployed after leaving a 13-year career as a sound and audio technician for a home sound system company. The Thompsons, like many families in the late 2000s, didn’t worry too much about money. But as recession hit at the end of 2008 and deepened in 2009, people were less concerned about installing fancy sound systems in their homes and lake cabins. Soon Darin’s hours were cut and then he was laid off, the last of the company’s six employees to be let go.

Looking back, the timing couldn’t have been better. He traded the build-your-career version of the American dream for a new dream that involved putting the family’s time, money and talents to work in following God’s call.

As is Pebbles’ style, she jumped immediately at what God had laid on her heart, and in April 2008, Project Night-Light started to take shape. A connection with Heartland Community Church, where Pebbles had served as volunteer youth pastor, gave the fledgling ministry a place to grow. While most of the funding for the ministry came from the Thompson’s own pockets, it wasn’t long before Pebbles took her infectious personality and passion for the cause in front of churches and groups in hopes of raising support for Project Night-Light. The “burning bush moment” was becoming a reality.

The First Date

Eighteen years after their first date, Pebbles finds it fun to look back and see how far they’ve come―from questioning teenagers to faithful ministry partners.

“We’ve been married for 15 years this December,” she said. “He makes me laugh, he’s my best friend, my protector, my other half and an amazing father. Now he’s also my full-time ministry partner. We work together and dream together on how to reach more hurting kids every day.”

Darin had a fair idea of what he might be getting into when he asked Pebbles Eagle on a date in 1994. She was 15 and he was 18 when they met in church on a Sunday evening. She went to high school in Jamestown, N.D. and he was a farm boy from Rogers,

N.D. After a few group dates, Darin worked up the courage to ask her out. Though she said “yes,” there were a few things she needed him to know if their relationship was going to move beyond that first date.

1. I’m going to be a pastor. I need a man willing to be in church three times a week in the front row while I’m up front leading. More importantly, I need someone who loves God more than anything.

2. Never hit me. One time and I will leave. All through my family line, women have made poor choices about men. The women in my family picked men who were unhealthy and they (the men and women) felt being hit was normal. But it isn’t OK with me.

3. Be capable of loving a child who isn’t biologically your own. I plan to adopt a child some day.

“I had three rules for dating because even though I knew it was unlikely that I would marry some guy I met in high school, I knew it could happen,” said Pebbles. “I also wanted to lay a foundation of healthy choices early on so I didn’t form bad habits in the type of people I surrounded myself with. We all seem to have a type of person we are drawn to. People who come out of abuse tend to gravitate to abusive relationships themselves. I had a choice to shape what my future could look like, and it started with my relationships.”

Darin agreed to all three conditions, but he swears it’s not because she’s stop-and-stare beautiful. He can honestly say that her looks had nothing to do with him saying “yes” to her conditions for a date. Even before their first official date, Darin said, “I couldn’t imagine a day without her. I just knew.”

God is in the Details

In addition to her family, Pebbles has gathered around her a smart, diverse board of directors to help guide Project Night-Light. Early on she worked with members of Heartland Community Church to establish a board for her growing ministry. Last year, as the ministry expanded to help children in the St. Paul area in Minnesota, and began growing financially, an attorney was consulted to establish Project NightLight as a tax-exempt organization, known as a 501C-3 organization. Pebbles and Darin are members of the board but don’t have voting privileges on salaries. This past June, Project Night-Light added Pebbles’ mother Fran Geisler to its staff. As the former office manager of Salvation Army in Jamestown, she brings non-profit expertise to the table. She also “helps our kids maintain some sort of normal,” Pebbles said.

At this point, Project Night-Light is able to pay Pebbles a salary that allows her to provide for their family. “We plan our spending because it allows us to give more,” Pebbles said. “We can’t give to help missions if we are not responsible with our budget. We make sure our children don’t go without. (Our) furniture is old and worn but my kids would just color on the new stuff anyways. We are able to pay our bills each month, give to some of our favorite causes and save for vacations and emergencies.”

Though things are stable now, there was a time when the family was reminded of their need for God’s provision. “The lowest point was at the end of my secular job,” Darin said. “God had told me to quit my job while she was doing (youth pastor work) but I was thinking ‘I’m the man. I should be the breadwinner.’ Once my job was gone – when I did not know [how] my paycheck was coming – then I found I could just go on faith. There’s no reason other than faith that we still have our house today.”

Time and again, the couple stared at the numbers and wondered how they’d pay the mortgage on their modest five-bedroom home. Over and over they were blown away by the gifts or helping hand they received when it was time to write the mortgage check. It was an new experience for a man accustomed to living more by a spreadsheet than blind faith.

Two years ago Darin started his own small business, but his heart belongs to his family and the ministry, so they receive his full-time attention. Though he is not paid by Project Night-Light, he volunteers more than 40 hours per week. Darin said “I feel more fulfilled now helping kids than I did putting wires in houses.”

Bags of Hope

With a pre-teen daughter and three little ones who arrived after a bout with infertility, Pebbles tends to children day and night. “To us, we’re not done yet … we know we want to adopt,” she said. Pebbles calls the children helped by Project NightLight “my spiritual children.” While these children are just statistics to most people, they are very real to Pebbles and she prays sincerely for them daily.

When she followed God’s direction to help abused children Pebbles’ research uncovered a fact that bothered the mother’s heart in her. Sometimes when children are taken to a doctor to be examined for physical or sexual abuse, their clothing is kept as evidence. This means the young victims leave the clinic or hospital and walk out in public wearing an ill-fitting hospital gown or clothing that has been gathered by kindly medical staff. To these children, losing their clothing only adds to their shame and feelings of worthlessness.

“These are children of the King,” Pebbles says. “They should be treated like little princes and princesses … like I treat my children or you treat yours.” She believes children examined for abuse deserve to wear real clothing that fits after their exams and to have some things that bring comfort and hope.

This desire to restore dignity is what fuels their family’s weekend trips to speaking engagements at churches throughout Minnesota, North Dakota and sometimes South Dakota. The family also travels together to transport Bags of Hope to one of the Children’s Advocacy Centers they work with in Grand Forks, Bismarck, Minot, Fargo and St. Paul, Minn.

The contents of each Bag of Hope cost about $50. Pebbles designed the Bag of Hope to meet physical and spiritual needs. She makes sure each item is a brand name―nothing fancy; Suave kids’ shampoo/conditioner and Carter’s pajamas―and each bag is packed like a loving mother would carefully pack an overnight bag for her child. Each bag contains:

• A fleece tie blanket

Pajamas/socks/underwear

2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner

Toothbrush/toothpaste

Fruit snacks/water bottle

Flashlight

The book “You Are Special”

by Max Lucado

• Zipper tote bag to hold all their new special items

Teen girl bags include deodorant and a personal journal

• Infants and toddlers get diapers/Pull-Ups and wipes

Pebbles explained that many abused children feel used and that’s why only new items are placed in the bags. She carefully selected items for the Bags of Hope that would provide some bit of security and comfort.

Since 2008, Project Night-Light has put 2,980 Bags of Hope in the hands of abused children. Pebbles feels a pull to help more children and believes God wants Project Night-Light to grow so it can help children throughout the U.S. and maybe even farther.

Let Go … and Let God

“This is a completely different life than I envisioned growing up on a farm near Rogers,” Darin said. “This thing is bigger than me. I finally had to just let go and believe in Project Night-Light.”

Earlier this spring Pebbles was invited to speak at a church in western North Dakota. In her talk, she mentioned her hope that Project Night-Light might eventually help children in other states. In connection, she mentioned an idea of a motor home that would make travel less constrictive for the Thompson children and be outfitted as a mobile ministry center/Bag of Hope packing center.

A woman approached Pebbles after the church service, chatted with her at length and then handed her a check. Pebbles thanked her, folded it in half and put it in her purse to deposit later. When she had time to pause and look at the check she was stunned to see the large donation, with a notation that the gift should be used for two motor homes:―one that can be used to transport the Thompson family and any volunteers as they travel, and one that can be modified for use as a mobile packing station for Bags of Hope. Overall, the gift is intended to spread the ministry to other states.

“Darin took a picture of the check,” Pebbles said, “as a reminder that when things seem impossible God always provides.” They thought the idea of a nationwide ministry and mobile packing center was far in the future because of the time it would take to gather the money. The Thompsons are researching motor homes and plan to be on the road next summer thanks to the generosity of one family who quietly gave a generous gift.

“Pebbles is a big dreamer,” Darin said. “I’m taking baby steps to be a dreamer. When you see things fall into place again and again, you start to believe more and more. Our God is a big god.”

For more information about the people and heart behind Project Night-Light, please visit http://www.ndnightlight.org. [AWM]