10 Nov Because of you… “My story has a new beginning!”
“It was like a burden getting released, to be free from worrying.”
“I totally lost focus…” John says.
John made a bad decision about 10 years ago to try drugs. He then spent years enslaved by addiction. “I would get high and lose my job, couldn’t pay rent and lose my housing. I just figured, whatever, it is what it is.”
John was homeless, living on the streets, before God used a police officer to get his attention. The officer said John couldn’t sleep on the streets and asked if he wanted to come to Long Beach Rescue Mission. John first said no, but after a couple officers mentioned the Mission and encouraged him again that same day, he finally gave in and took them up on their offer for a ride. Here, through your gifts, he was blessed with the essentials of safe shelter… nutritious meals… and the care he needed to feel safe and get back on his feet.
“Coming to the Mission was a friendly reminder to get back right with God. They whipped me back into shape pretty quick.”
For the first time in years, John celebrated the miracle of Christmas with God’s joy and peace in his heart.
“I was going nowhere, incredibly fast,” John shares. “I knew the truth – what was right – but I didn’t do it.”
John decided to enter our New Life year-long residential discipleship program. His heart and his life changed thanks to the routine of morning devotions, daily classes, work therapy and ongoing spiritual guidance. John got his GED, graduated from the program and plans to go back to school to get his degree in sound engineering.
This Christmas, because of your compassion and God’s love, John’s story has a new beginning. And he’s blessed by the greatest gift he could ever receive – a future filled with joy and meaning. “I’m working right now, so my plan is to save as much as I can and then go to school. I have a strong passion for music, and I want to produce music for the rest of my life.”
To read the rest of this issue of Rescue Review, click here.
Help other people like John…
John’s story of hope and healing is inspiring. Our long-term recovery programs exist to help other men and women find healing. Will you provide this help to others?