Joe had a good life, a thriving career and a close relationship with his family. Then his father died of a heart attack and it tore Joe’s world apart. “I’d been a strong, successful person, but everything changed,” he says. “I quit my job to be with Mom and we stayed in the house and reminisced, stuck in our grief. We started drinking and became alcoholics together.”
For seven years, they lived off his mother’s social security and went from living well in a three-bedroom home to living in poverty in a rented room, selling their belongings or recycling to get by.
One day, Joe’s mother had to be hospitalized for pneumonia and placed on a breathing machine. “Her little heart couldn’t handle it and stopped. She passed away the day I took her in,” Joe says. “I was devastated and I couldn’t stop drinking.”
Then he learned about the Mission, and knew he needed help to get his life back on track. He entered our Christian Life Training Discipleship Program, where he gave his life to Christ.
“Through life-skills classes and Bible studies, the Lord ministered to my heart. And the staff gave me spiritual guidance and taught me accountability, servanthood, humility and honesty.”
“Love and the spirit of generosity are alive in the Mission.”
Through grief classes, Joe also began to heal from the loss of his parents. “I read promises from the Lord that I didn’t know before,” he says.
Joe graduated from the program, is staying in our transitional housing and works as a case manager at Flood Ministries, helping people with housing vouchers maintain their homes and finances. “The Mission prepared me to be a disciple for the Lord,” he says.
Because you gave from your heart to help Joe, his life has been changed by your goodness and God’s love forever! “I was hopeless and spiritually bankrupt, but now I’m a man of God, full of hope.”