“I wanted to know how to live…”
The last time John was arrested, the judge gave him two options: reincarceration or the Mission’s life-recovery program. At 50 years old, there was only one choice.
For more than two decades, “I led a criminal lifestyle,” John says. “Money, cars, drugs, gangs,” and in and out of prison more times than he could count. But raised in an abusive household, with little support and no positive direction, it was the only way he knew to survive.
Yet over the years, each time he was in jail, he talked to God, read the Bible, and studied His Word. Now he was ready to let the Lord change his life.
“I wanted to know how to live like other people I see – who don’t do drugs and go to work every day and go home and feed their kids. I’ve never been taught that. I never had a chance.”
“At the Mission the Lord really worked with me,” John says, describing how he overcame destructive behaviors and embraced the principles of accountability, responsibility, and self-discipline.
In work therapy, he drove the donation truck and repaired bicycles for children, he learned practical skills and enjoyed helping others. Most importantly, he’s strengthened his walk with God and inspired fellow residents to do the same. “I feel better about who I am and what I’ve been through, and now I’m somebody who’s helping open the door for others.”
When John graduated from the program, God opened the door for him to become a full-time truck driver in the Mission’s thrift ministry. “The courts blessed me by putting me at the Mission. I thank the Lord for having brought me into a facility that saved me and kept me closer to Him.”
About his future, John says, “I won’t worry about things… just put the Lord first.”
