On the night of March 14, 2017, after 27 years of addiction, I hit rock bottom. Homeless and hopeless, I was arrested in Indianapolis for multiple dealing and possession of drug charges. I was thrown into a jail cell, alone, afraid, and with no way out. I was facing the rest of my life in prison. With no one to turn to, I cried out to God. I finally realized I couldn’t do it on my own. God’s grace drew me to Him. Through multiple appearances in front of the judge, I was given the chance to get the help I desperately needed.
Released from jail, I checked into the Indianapolis, Ind., Harbor Light Center’s detox program where I spent the next 10 days drug-free—the longest I’d been clean in my adult life. I then checked into the center’s Residential Treatment program, and my life changed forever. After a Bible study one evening, I was given the opportunity to ask God for forgiveness and to invite Jesus to come into my heart. I began to have an inexplicable peace. Little did I know my journey with Jesus and The Salvation Army was just beginning.
That May I was accepted into the Indianapolis Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC). It provides a highly-structured, intensive drug and alcohol program that focuses on spiritual, social, and emotional regeneration and rehabilitation. I began to experience what a relationship with Jesus means. I learned that through grace we are saved, and there is no faith without obedience and no obedience without faith. I was becoming a new creation like it talks about in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (CSV): “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!”
Through God’s Word and the ARC, I found my sense of purpose. I was able to understand what a real relationship with Jesus is all about. On completion of the program, I was offered a job in the ARC warehouse, processing donated goods that fund the program. Then I was given the opportunity to become assistant resident manager, and soon I became full-time lead resident manager.
Becoming a new person in Christ changed everything for me. Following God’s teachings, I started living by God’s Spirit. Breaking free from old habits, I started having a positive influence on those around me. I found my true calling: serving others in Christ’s name and helping others recover from addiction.
I became a soldier at the Indianapolis Fountain Square Corps where I deepened my relationship with God, found community, and served others. I gained a profound understanding of what self-control should be because of what a covenant relationship with Him entails. Walking by the Spirit and living by this covenant was—and still is—instrumental in keeping me on a clean and steadfast path.
The Salvation Army played a crucial role in facilitating and supporting me in acquiring national peer support certifications, essential for becoming a manager of rehabilitation services at the ARC. In this role, I was entrusted with the responsibility of leading and steering the program toward a Christ-centered approach to recovery. I obtained certifications as an alcohol and drug addiction consultant. As a result, I assumed the position of director of rehabilitation services, overseeing and advancing our rehabilitation program curriculum and program staff. I even went back to college and earned the Adult Rehabilitation Center Leadership Certificate from Indiana Wesleyan University.
Instead of serving a life sentence in prison, I had a second chance at life because of The Salvation Army. My relationship with Jesus has given me inexplicable peace and joy and, out of that, an indefinable love for my brothers and sisters in Christ which allows me to serve others in His name. Today I am the man, husband, father, son, brother, and friend God intended me to be.
