On October 7, 2023 the Rescue Mission, joined by family and friends, celebrated with 19 graduates of our Life-Recovery Program. Each completed over 2,500 hours of recovery care activities on their journey to a transformed life by way of Jesus Christ. The event was so inspiring as our graduates shared stories of life transformation!
Row One: Leighanne Bonner, Leah Whitby, Phyllis Schooley, Vicki Rutherford, Chase Combs, Anthon Thomas, Dezi Wainright
Row Two: Eddie Taggart, Doug Higginbotham, Wesley Hill, Bryan Hill, Simon Smith
Row Three: Jeff Abercrombie, Jeff Postell, James Nelson, Robbie O’Neal, Mike Terrell, Steve Jackson
MEET OUR GRADUATES
Leah Whitby
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
After graduation, I plan to stay at the Mission in the transitional phase of the program. During this time, I will seek God’s guidance and look for employment.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
God and family. I know for a fact that God brought me to the Mission. I am so very thankful for the work He has done in my life. So many people here have truly become family to me. I will always be thankful for my experience here.
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
If you have made it through these gates, you are here for a reason. Be willing to surrender your ways to God’s will. If God can soften the heart of this grumpy old woman and change her, He can do it for you too.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
I will be a lot more careful about the words that come out of my mouth. Hopefully going forward my words will build others up, and never tear them down. I will use guardrails to prevent me from going back to my old ways. I will practice loving others right where they are and not judging them. I will focus more on whose I am. I am so very thankful to be a child of God.
Leighanne Bonner
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
I plan to seek employment so I can meet my financial obligations to support myself and my son. I would also like to find a church home so I will always have a place to call my home and people to call my family.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
Grace. I have found grace from Jesus here at the Mission. Jesus has extended His grace towards me through the loving staff and volunteers here.
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
Psalm 40 sums up my time that I have spent here. I came here broken but I stayed, listened, and learned. God brought me up out of the deep dark pit I was in and set my feet on solid rock.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
I’ve learned to forgive others and extend grace…even when it isn’t deserved, just as Jesus has done for me. I will use this lesson so I can be free on the inside. I had so much unresolved sin in my life. The chains and shackles are no longer holding me captive.
Phyllis Schooley
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
I plan to look for senior living, get a car, and keep making bracelets.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
I just felt like I was supposed to be here. I really like being here. You will really love your new family. Everyone is so nice.
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
If you want to get your life back to being the person you were meant to be, you will love being here. The staff is so helpful and your new family too.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
I will keep on attending church and reading my Bible while waiting for God’s plan for me.
Vicki Rutherford
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
I plan to resume my nursing career. I took a break from nursing in 2017 but I am truly ready to continue doing what I love.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
The first thing I think of when I think of the Rescue Mission is family. The wonderful people that I have met during my time here will always have a special place in my heart.
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
I would tell future residents that the Mission is a great place to learn and grow.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
I know that through it all, through the good and bad, I will always have God and my family, including my Mission, family by my side.
Anthony Thomas
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
To let God’s plans for me happen. I would like to go to work for the Mission doing what I enjoy doing now while still walking out my recovery.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
Life saver! A diamond in the ruff.
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
Don’t give up on the Mission. Let the Mission help you heal and find Christ.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
I will use this experience to live my best life and to help people like me, so they have hope like I was given.
Bryan Hill
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
I plan on taking classes to become a substance abuse counselor. I have a strong desire to help others who are battling the same issues as me.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
Healing and grace. The Mission is a place that provides an environment in which a person can find the necessary healing that allows them to receive God’s grace.
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
Don’t forget what brought you here and be patient because we spent a long time getting where we are, and it will take time to get us where we need to be. Trust in God throughout your recovery.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
I will do my best to have God involved in every decision and situation I’m in. I will use the tools I have been given here, like trust in God and His plan, to guide my life every day.
Chase Combs
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
I am planning to work on paying off a legal matter and then going into the military.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
A community of brothers that I so desperately needed when my life was a wreck.
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
The Rescue Mission is a magnifying glass that will set you on fire for Jesus.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
This program showed me how to be authentic and vulnerable to others. To grow healthy relationships with the brothers I’ve done life with. To keep running towards my best life regardless of failures and adversity.
Doug Higginbotham
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
I will continue living on campus in Phase III housing and listening to God’s voice on what door he wants open either in ministry or in the workplace.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
This is the very place where I came in blind, sick, full of pride, arrogant, and broken at the same time. But through Christ’s mercy and grace, I have cut away all those things and I’m a free man today.
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
If you are willing, to be honest, self-evaluate yourself and remember the brokenness and desperation when you arrived and walk in humility, God will restore you to the fullest.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
The most memorable experience here was finally dealing with my past, my hurts, my failures, and my unresolved sin. While doing this, it will allow God to catapult his plan in my life and future.
Eddie Taggart
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
I plan to continue staying on campus in Phase III for a while until God leads me in another direction.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
I can feel his presence here like no other place and I can see him working in my life and all my brothers around me.
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
If you are ready to change your life this is the place to do it. This place is where you can remove your masks and dig down and get to the root of your problems.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
I have built several relationships during my time here. I will continue to go to church, Celebrate Recovery, and all the things that I have been doing to grow and progress in my recovery.
Jeff Abercrombie
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
I plan on living in Phase III housing while staying connected here and involved. I plan to remain active with the current residents and giving back to the new ones coming into the program.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
The Mission provides a place to build a foundation with Jesus. It is up to the resident how firm the foundation is. God is all over this place. The classes here really focus on a greater walk with Christ.
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
Become the change that someone else sees that inspires them to want to change. Be completely honest. It’s okay to be vulnerable. Bring it all and lay it at the foot of the cross and allow God to do His mighty work in your life.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
I plan to stay involved in church and Celebrate Recovery. I am going to stay connected to the Rescue Mission by doing service work. I will continue to keep God at the cornerstone of my life and allow Him to guide me in all the days of my life.
Jeff Postell
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
I’ve been away from my family in New York, and I feel that it is time for me to go see them.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
A place to come in from the streets and get clean and sober and surrender my life over to the Lord.
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
You’re going to deal with people from different walks of life but stay focused and do the next right thing and don’t be ashamed you had to come to the Rescue Mission.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
I know what I can and can’t do and try to not take myself too seriously so I can take a break. I am so grateful I came to the Rescue Mission.
Mike Terrell
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
I would like to continue growing and building my relationship with Christ.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
That it is on time and a place to sit down and work on yourself and learn how to walk with Christ.
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
It is an awesome place, and you can really grow and become the best version of yourself.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
The Mission has helped me to learn about people and how to handle situations and who I am and what I can accomplish.
Robbie O’Neal
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
I plan on staying at the Mission in Phase III while continuing my walk with Christ and my fellow brothers who I have taken this journey to recovery with. I plan on learning how to live a successful sober life through this transitional time in my life to back into the real world.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
Peace. Nothing but peace. As you ride into these 210 acres you can instantly feel that this place has God all over it.
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
Have an open mind. Don’t be afraid to try things you are uncomfortable with. Give your all to God to get your heart and soul back. There’s nothing like the peace that you will receive. Trust the staff and your leaders. But most of all make God # 1 in everything you do.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
I will use my experience here to assist me in my future by allowing what I’ve learned through books or others to let me look at my problems, questions, my motives, and ask myself if this is what God would or how he would want me to do it or not.
Steve Jackson
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
My plan after graduation is to try my best to maintain this lifestyle with God. I would like to find work and get back into my child’s life.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
When I think about the Mission, I think of this place as what God intended and I should have lived this way when I learned who Jehovah was in my past life.
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
I would tell future residents to stay focused and remember why they’re here.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
The experiences that I have learned here to assist me in my future are to think about the consequences of the decisions I make.
Wesley Hill
What are your plans after graduating from the program?
I want to stay connected to the Rescue Mission and give back somehow…..some way!!!
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this place?
Grace, love, and being grateful. I now know that God loves me no matter what and I am good enough!
What would you tell future residents about the Mission?
If you are ready to change your life this is the place to do it. This place is where you can remove your masks and dig down and get to the root of your problems.
How will you use the experiences here to assist you in your future?
I have built several relationships during my time here. I will continue to go to church, Celebrate Recovery, and all the things that I have been doing to grow and progress in my recovery.
