Growing up in a neighborhood where crack cocaine and prostitution coexisted alongside a gospel-preaching old woman named Sister Lou, Shawntá Pulliam saw the futility of life around her in the “hood,” yet knew deep inside she was born for something more—something great even. Still, with a drug-addicted mother and a father behind bars, the pull of the streets and deep emotional wounding took their toll, and she easily fell in with a crowd hurtling headlong in the wrong direction. A nervous breakdown that led to her breakthrough revived Shawntá’s faith and stirred up the gifts God had planted in her long ago. Propelled by that faith, she watched as God opened door after door for her to walk through. Following her heart-cry, she eventually founded an organization called Nurturing Hearts for at-risk girls ages ten to eighteen. In Hell Bent, Heaven Bound, she reminds us all that God uses the things we like least about ourselves—and breathes purpose into them.
