Keith – April 2017

Every morning, we start our day at the mission with a devotional thought and prayer.  We’ve been doing that from the beginning for more than 15 years now. It started out that just a few of us volunteers would gather in a small circle and pray.  Today, more than 30 people sat in that circle including our staff, a team of volunteers and students in our long-term recovery program, Forge.  Most of those students have been known as anything but students. The addict. The homeless. The unemployed.  Until now, rejection has been the norm. It was a beautiful moment for me to look around the same circle I’ve sat in for so many years and see labels like “addict” and “homeless” erased by the love of the church. Here’s how one of those students put it:

“I need structure in my life and accountability. I need to be around people who are interested in moving forward with their lives. The Forge program is personal. The staff here is incredibly Christ-like and they actually care about me.  I am meeting new people who truly walk with Jesus and it’s helping me build a strong foundation.  I’m ready to take the year to do so.”

To some, Keith is known as an alcoholic. To others, he’s known as an inmate. To us, he’s a student and a brother.