When Chris was a little boy, he was abused by two of the very people who were entrusted to love and protect him. “My father beat me and called me ugly things,” he says. “My mom finally left him, but she had to work two jobs to support us so she was never home. And, starting at the age of 7, I was molested by my babysitter.”
By the time he was 10, Chris was struggling to cope with deep emotional wounds and he began numbing his pain with drugs and alcohol. Eventually, he dropped out of school and his addiction escalated, leading him down a dark and painful path, damaging his marriage and costing him custody of his children.
“I lost hope. I lost myself,” he says. Finally, Chris turned to our Christian Life Training Discipleship Program for help. Through Christian counseling, faith-based addiction recovery and life skills classes, he surrendered his life to the Lord and found emotional healing. “Now I know what it means to have hope, to be freed from the bondage of addiction and to forgive myself and others.”
Chris graduated from the program in 2018 and joined our staff as a Case Manager at our Homeless Intervention Site, where he ministers to those who struggle as he once did. “I’m a vessel God uses to help others with addictions.” And that’s only part of the miracle! His relationships with his children have been restored and, after 20 years apart, he and his wife have reconciled. “God completely transformed my thinking and changed my behavior as a husband and father. After graduation, I sensed Him say that I was ready to be a husband again, and my wife took me back!” he says, joyfully.
Chris is thankful for the kindness and compassion of loving neighbors like you – and how you have given him peace and hope for the future. “The Mission showed me love and helped me find out who I am in the Lord. It changed my life.”