Chris - July 2018

Recently, our Evangelism Director was sharing John chapter 21 with a group of guys in the Mission’s Upper Room. He was conveying the guilt Peter must have felt after denying Christ on the eve of His crucifixion. To Peter, I’m sure it seemed there was no way to be absolved of this betrayal. Not knowing what to do, he went back to his old way of life. It’s no wonder when he saw Jesus standing on the beach after He had resurrected that Peter jumped from his fishing boat into the sea to swim ashore. He wanted a second chance! Jesus gave him that second chance, reaffirming Peter and his call to follow Christ. We are all thankful for second chances, but none any more than Chris.

“I had been on heroin for thirty years before being jailed for four. What had been a curiosity when I was a teen had grown into a habit and then into a major part of my life.I was staying in the home of some friends who then got arrested for drug dealing. Anyone else in the house was kicked out by the landlord.

I’d never been homeless before. My probation officer recommended Watered Gardens. My first month in shelter, I passed 14 drug tests. I was now in a place that pushed me to be better.

With a DWI on my record, I had to walk everywhere. I searched for jobs on foot, trying to find something. A husband of one of the staff at Watered Gardens saw me walking and told me of a restaurant that was hiring. During the interview, as they reviewed my work history and my past, I looked at them and said, ‘I need someone to take a chance on me.’ They called me back the next day, and I’m working forty hours a week.”

Chris got a second chance! Your support of the mission this month played a part in the turnaround he experienced. Thank you. Your faithful support inspires many to jump from their old way of life to the new one that awaits them.