Larissa Explains Her Roots

I was born in Port au Prince, Haiti, so that makes me  an island girl. My family and I moved to the United States when I was only 20 months old, where we lived in Boston,Massachusetts for 11 years of my life.  I can truly say, without question that my love for reading, writing, and books are a result of my mother who made it a mandate almost, for me to be an avid reader. My fondest memory of my mother as a child is her taking me to the Boston Public library almost every weekend, where I would come out with stacks of books that I was overly eager to read. She would always read to me and as a result, I found myself illustrating and creating my own stories, not knowing that my childhood pastime was the building block to me becoming an author today.

I grew up in church and honestly, really loved it!  My two younger brothers and I  were raised in a Christian home, where all we knew was Sunday School, going to church on Sunday mornings, and learning how to love God and learn more about Him. In 1997, my family and I made yet another drastic move, this time from the North to the South. Lawrenceville, Georgia would become our new home and still remains today. In His grace, Jesus knocked at the door of my heart on April 4, 1999. From then on, my walk with the Lord began. I became very active in the youth ministry at The Good Samaritan Haitian Alliance Church where it was there that my roots and foundation in Christ started.

Larissa Explains Her Training Ground

God really has an awesome way of revealing exactly how He desires to use you in His Kingdom, when you desire to be in the will of the Father and live a life that glorifies Him. Your natural gifts, affinities and talents are not an accident in God’s economy.

Throughout high school, I had the privilege to work with young girls at my church through a young girl’s ministry where I taught and mentored the young people in my youth group. After graduating from high school, I enrolled at the University of Georgia, where I would later graduate with a dual degree in Spanish and Foreign Language Education. My years in college were truly the time where my relationship with the Father deepened and I really began living a life sold out to Christ. In college, I was an RA and again had the awesome opportunity to mentor and minister to young college women on my hall for two years. These two years were so very meaningful to me because I was able to pour into other  young women’s lives. Then, In 2005, the Lord led me to OmegaWorship Center, under the leadership of my Pastors, Dr. Yulonda Lewis and Bishop Rayfield Lewis. Through my growth in the Lord within this ministry, it was then that  the Lord really began tugging on my heart and dealing with me about young  single women in the Kindgom.

Larissa Explains Her Heart’s Passion

If there was a particular group of people that I am drawn the most to serve would be youth and young women. I truly love being able to pour into the life of another sister and help her realize that her identity is truly found in Christ Jesus. So, in October of  2009,  the Lord began dealing with my heart about purpose and bringing back to my remembrance a dream that He put in my heart as a little girl : writing books. The scripture that God pressed upon my heart during that time of seeking Him was ”Write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it” (Habukkuk 2:2). It was at that point that I realized that the vision the Lord had put in my heart 5 years ago to help minister to young women was about to be birthed through this book.  That same night in October, I began writing Lessons Learned as a Bridesmaid. The dream was beginning to become a reality.

Through this book, my desire is to see young women in the Kingdom know their true identity in Christ and fall in love with the Father. Ladies,  our idenity is not wrapped up in our marital status. While we are single and are in this period of waiting for the man that God has created just for us, let’s use this time to trust His timing. In the meantime, He’ll mold us into the women of God He has destined us to be!