In 1996, 7-year-old Cammue Mendawe Gweh was running through a jungle in war-torn Liberia to escape death after rebel soldiers attacked his village, burned the huts, and killed many of his neighbors. Rescued from certain death by his mother’s sister, Aunt Kemah, the pair spent months hiding and foraging for food. With his Liberian family scattered and likely dead, an uncle brought him to an orphanage in the town of Gbarnga.
There, a woman from his tribe renamed him Jackson Kofi after the trauma caused him to forget his own name. This new name had belonged to a pastor’s beloved son, who had drowned, and it was this man, Pastor Kofi of the African Christians Fellowship International, who would become one of the miracle workers in the boy’s life.
Today, Cammue is 36-year-old Jackson TerKeurst, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He recounts his remarkable story of surviving trauma and being adopted in the United States in his book, “The Only Way Forward Is Back: A Story of War, Adoption, and Finding Your Purpose in God’s Plan.” His faith grows stronger amid upheaval and change, allowing him to overcome his pain. “The civil war took everything—my home, my family, my childhood. I watched things no child should ever see. But even in the rubble, God preserved my life,” TerKeurst said. “That season shaped the foundation of my faith—not because I had all the answers, but because I desperately needed something to believe in. It was the beginning of a long journey from survival to purpose.”
How TerKeurst ended up in America was fortuitous. In the orphanage where TerKeurst lived, Pastor Kofi encouraged all his churchgoers to sing. With some friends, the teenager formed an a cappella choir. They seriously practiced their music, and they subsequently won the attention of an American mission group that arranged for them to visit the United States and raise awareness about the suffering in Liberia.
“One of my favorites from those days is a song called ‘Still Have Joy,’” TerKeurst recalled. “In the middle of war, loss, and heartbreak, that song reminded me of what Scripture teaches—that joy isn’t based on circumstances; it’s rooted in the presence of God. Even in the orphanage, when all we had to drink was warm water for a week at a time in place of a hot meal, we still chose joy,” he said.
New Family, New Land, New Story
In recounting his trip to the United States from Liberia, TerKeurst compared the poverty and hunger he’d endured with the comfortable lifestyle and amenities most Americans take for granted. He related these encounters—his flight on the airplane, being met with cold weather at the airport, his shock and surprise at all the buildings and highways—with humor and wit. When he first visited a Kentucky Fried Chicken, for example, “it smelled so good that at first we thought it was an African restaurant in America. And this guy just brought buckets and buckets of chicken to our table, and we just had the whole thing. I put some in my pocket and took it in the car with me.”
For nearly a year, the choir traveled across America singing in churches. But with their visas nearing their expiration date, this chapter in TerKeurst’s life seemed about to close.
One evening, Christian author and speaker Lysa TerKeurst and her three daughters attended one of the Liberian Acapella Boys Choir concerts. One of her daughters was studying Liberia as a Girl Scout project, and Lysa thought it would be a good experience for her and her sisters to meet Liberians in person. That was the night her heart was moved. Urged on by her daughters, she and her then-husband Art began discussing adopting not just TerKeurst but his good friend Mark, too.
He called his adoption “one of the greatest miracles.” Back at the orphanage, “I prayed and cried to God for years, asking Him to give me a family. A second chance. A place where I could feel safe, loved, and chosen. That kind of hope felt impossible at times—but God heard every one of those prayers,” he said.
The miracle didn’t end there. Lysa brought the boys’ choir to her own church. With the help of her friends and the congregation, nearly all the young men of that choir found homes in Charlotte, North Carolina.
More Blessings
With Lysa’s help, TerKeurst caught up on his education and graduated from high school at age 21. Art owned several Chick-fil-A franchises and employed TerKeurst at one of them. “Working behind the registers at Chick-fil-A taught me how to be a servant leader,” he recalled. Then, he applied to college and got accepted at Tennessee’s Union University, where he majored in business management. That’s where he met his future wife, Amanda.
That name derives from Latin and means “loving.” The nursing student, introduced to TerKeurst by a friend, became his biggest supporter. “She stood by me every step of the way, and she encouraged me to seek out help, to go to therapy, to find counsel and trusted friends. She is my wife and best friend. Seeing when I was going in the wrong direction, she was able to grab me and say, ‘Hey, sweetheart, you’re going to run in the wrong direction. This is where God wants you to go.’”
For years after their marriage, the couple longed for children, but they could not conceive. They finally pursued in vitro fertilization. Over six years passed before their prayers and tears were answered with the birth of twins, a boy and a girl. TerKeurst said: “The best thing about being a dad to Legend and Londyn is knowing that I get to give them what I never had: security, love, and a sense of belonging. Every time they run into my arms or call me ‘Daddy,’ it reminds me that God is using me to break generational curses.”
Lessons Shared
In addition to his commitments to God, his wife and children, and his professional work, he also spends time helping others who have suffered major trauma, which is one reason he wrote his book about his adoption journey. He advises them to “first, give yourself grace. Healing takes time to process your pain.” He urges them to seek help through sharing with a trusted friend or family. “Don’t suffer in silence. Trauma doesn’t define you. It’s part of your journey, but not the whole story. You are stronger than you think and hope is still possible.”
TerKeurst is grateful for how God has led him to be in America, where he is truly free. Through raising his family, “I’m building a new bloodline—one rooted in faith, wholeness, and legacy,” he said. “I get to witness the beginning of something brand new.”
From May Issue, Volume VI
