“They’ve shown me the love of God.”
Raised by a single dad, Nash knew his father loved him and worked hard to provide for the family. But as a child of divorce whose mother was hospitalized due to alcoholism, he knows that trauma had an effect on him growing up.
“There was love missing in my life… and I tried to fill that hole.” Nash turned to drugs and alcohol. “I learned at an early age how to function despite drinking. You drink, but you work, you are responsible, and you don’t act up. As I got older, I always had a job, but I drank more and more.”
Until finally, the drinking got out of control to the point that Nash couldn’t keep functioning. “Rock bottom for me was finally losing my job. I was in and out of hospitals for the last year, at the point of death. That’s when I knew I had to do something about my drinking.” His family encouraged him to check out the Mission.
“I knew God was telling me, ‘It is time. This is where you need to be, Nash.’”
“My biggest challenge before coming to the Mission was that I couldn’t do it on my own. I was just trying to keep my head above the water,” Nash says. “I didn’t have any joy or peace. The most important thing I learned is that I had to get myself out of the way and to bring God in. Bring God in, bring the Holy Spirit in, bring the Word in.”
Now Nash is optimistic for the future with plans to complete the life recovery program and reenter the workforce – sober, healthier, and with a renewed faith in God and himself.
This Christmas, Nash is experiencing all the joy this season has to offer – because YOU believed in the power of a fresh start and the promise of God’s unending love. “Spiritually, I was very uplifted coming into this place. The Mission has shown me the love of God and the love of other people.”
Click here to download the November 2024 issue of The Mission Bell..
