“I felt empty inside because I had no love in my life.”
As a child, Kevin struggled with a learning disability and was bullied by his grade school classmates. Things were even worse at home. “My mother called me names and abused me because I was slow in school,” he says. “I had low self-esteem and was always depressed.”
When he was in sixth grade, Kevin began drinking to numb his pain. But his addiction made learning even more difficult, and he wound up failing several grades. “I dropped out of high school and started running the streets,” he says.
Eventually, he wound up homeless, sleeping in abandoned buildings. “I was lonely, exhausted, and in pain. I felt empty inside because I had no love in my life.”
Kevin longed to fill the hole in his heart, and when he learned about the Rescue Mission, he knew it was the answer. “From the moment I walked in the door, I was treated with love.”
Through Bible studies, chapel services, faith-based classes, and counseling, Kevin’s faith grew strong, and he found freedom from addiction. “With the help of the Holy Spirit, I dug up the root causes of my drinking and laid the mess at the foot of the cross,” he says. “Now, I’ve received God’s goodness through His Word, and I’m joyful and at peace.”
“Christ healed me, heart and soul.”
Kevin is now employed as a kitchen assistant with the Rescue Mission, where he can show the residents he works with the same love he needed when he was in the same place they are now. “Many of them are broken, just like I was, so I treat them the way I was treated… with love.”
Now, Kevin is looking forward to a future career in the restaurant industry. He loves to cook and has earned a ServSafe Food Handler Certification. Wherever he goes, he’ll share his story of transformation. “I want to tell people how God saved me and help change their lives.”
This fall, Kevin gives thanks for YOU and your incredible generosity. Your prayers and support have helped change his life. “The Rescue Mission gave me the strength and courage to become the man God created me to be.”
Click here to download the August 2024 issue of The Mission Bell..
