2018 GRADUATE TESTIMONIeS

Transcription

1 New Life Discipleship and recovery Program 2018 GRADUATE TESTIMONIeS Restoring Faith, Hope, and Family w BoiseRM.org PO Box 1494 w Boise, ID w (208)

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3 SPECIAL THANKS! A huge thank you to TEN MILE CHRISTIAN CHURCH for hosting the celebration this evening and to all of the VOLUNTEERS who offered their time to make it a success. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! and SNAKE RIVER PROVISIONS AND THANKS TO YOU! Finally, thanks to YOU for being part of this celebration! Your presence today is an encouragement to our graduates, and we hope it is also encouraging to you to see the transformation that has taken place in lives you are impacting with your generosity. All of our programs are funded by you, our donors, and we are truly grateful.

4 NEW LIFE DISCIPLESHIP RECOVERY PROGRAM at BOISE RESCUE MISSION MINISTRIES The New Life Program is the Mission s 1-2 year drug and alcohol addiction recovery program. It provides discipleship, accountability, counseling, education, and a Biblebased curriculum to help men and women end their addictions and gain the tools to stay addiction-free. Since the Program s beginning in 1996, more than 312 men and women have graduated and moved on to build productive, successful lives. PROGRAM CAPACITY: Lighthouse - 18 River of Life - 30 City Light - 30 LENGTH: The time it takes to complete the Program varies by individual, averaging from 1 to 2 years. COST: The New Life Program is funded solely through grants and the generous members of our community and is free for the men and women participating. REQUIREMENTS: Anyone wishing to commit to the Program must complete an application and interview with staff. For information about applications, see page 23. YOU CAN HELP! MENTOR - Christian men and women are needed to come alongside program members and counsel them. TUTOR - Academics is an important part of the NLP. You can help by volunteering as a tutor for the men and women woking towards a GED. DONATE - This month is MAY MATCH and your gift to Boise Rescue Mission Ministries counts for twice as much this month. Giving is easy. Send a check to BRMM, PO Box 1494, Boise ID 83701; call (208) ; or go to BoiseRM. org/donate to put your gift to work even faster. CONNECT - Text HOPE to and download the Rescue Mission App today! The app is the best way to stay connected and follow-up with how your gift is helping our community.

5 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) CITY LIGHT GRADUATES Dina Ferrari...12 Crystal Fraser...21 Jocelyn Woods...6 LIGHTHOUSE GRADUATES Jim Ash...18 Saúl Molina...20 Lou Newton...16 RIVER OF LIFE GRADUATES David Aspin...9 Daniel Bischoff...8 Peter Daniel Core...17 Jason Daniels...14 Rene Anthony Espinosa De Los Monteros, II...19 Dennis Kessler...11 Joey Landis...13 Kenneth Rowdy Martin...15 Austin McGee...7 David McQuinn...10

6 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. Lamentations 3:21-25 (ESV)

7 JOCELYN WOODS was gone with her dad. I didn t have rules or boundaries growing up. After my dad was arrested, I didn t know what to do or how to deal with the emotions I was feeling. I was also abused and found comfort in alcohol. It wasn t long before I started seeking it out more; I liked the way it made me numb. At the age of 16, I started popping any pills that I could get my hands on. I eventually made my way to harder drugs. I found out I was pregnant at 20 years old, and gave birth to my amazing little girl. It wasn t long though before my addiction kicked back in. I used drugs to deal with the pain I felt when my daughter We joined the Program in March 2017 and haven t looked back. God never gave up on us or who He knew we could be. BrookLynn has made major changes through counseling and she is learning who God says she is. She loves to reach out to anyone she can to give an encouraging word. I was able to get full custody and give her the name change she has wanted for so long. Through the New Life Program I have had some of the hardest times that brought the biggest triumphs. I learned how to forgive those who hurt my daughter and I, and how to fully depend on God and who He says I am. I want to thank the staff who believed in us, our amazing family who never gave up praying for us, God, and so many more who supported us. This would have never been possible without a generous community who provided all that we needed. Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 7

8 AUSTIN MCGEE My name is Austin McGee and this is my testimony. When I was active in my addiction, I was a very sad, lost, and hopeless individual. My life was crazy and hectic. The first thing that comes to mind is misery. I was constantly running from my problems and creating even more problems along the way. I was constantly in trouble with the law, until I found myself facing hard time in prison. It was then that I realized it was truly time to change the way I was living my life. I learned that I don t belong in a lifestyle like that. I can do better for myself. I found out about the New Life Program and immediately filled out the application for enrollment. A couple weeks later, I was accepted. The New Life Program helped me rekindle my relationship with God, and helped me rediscover and redefine myself in so many amazing ways. I m pursuing a career right now, and I m gonna keep doing that. I am getting back on my feet and building a life for myself. I am forever grateful and forever blessed. 8

9 DANIEL BISCHOFF Since becoming homeless in 2016, it is still hard to believe that a place like the Rescue Mission exists. None of this could happen without the love of Christ as it encircles us. I have lived in my car and have spent several nights on the streets wandering aimlessly. While I was in California, I observed a shelter from the periphery, but I didn t manage to have a bed. I was arrested while I was living in my car in the Bay area. I am eternally grateful to the New Life Program and everyone who works so hard to prove its integrity and to fill its spirit daily. Sobriety from drugs and alcohol is a gift that I hope to continue receiving through Christ who strengthens me. I would also like to thank God and everyone who works for the Rescue Mission for renewing my self-respect. I lost my way and now am found. I m hopeful that I get a job that is within my career strengths. My experience is in marketing and writing and creative writing, and I m really looking forward to seeing what opportunities that God has ahead of me. Helping others in need has proven to be a great endeavor while living at River of Life. I hope to continue finding ways to give back. Thank God and everyone who works for the Rescue Mission for renewing my self-respect. I lost my way and now am found. -Daniel 9

10 DAVID ASPIN I am very grateful for everything that this New Life Program has given me so far, and I am looking forward to finding out what is to come. I started smoking cigarettes and marijuana when I was 14 years old, and I started drinking here and there about the same time. I was raised in what I consider a pretty good family. Even though my dad was a functioning alcoholic, I still had a good relationship with him. I have one brother and one sister who are 15 years older than me. I didn t really start drinking real heavy and consistently until my late 30 s. Prior to that, I used drugs, pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I was using acid, mescaline, cocaine, and meth. I caused so much destruction to the people I loved and that loved me. After a long period of hurting others I soon burned all the bridges I once had. It took me going to jail to finally decide that I had enough. I ended up with four years on felony probation. I always had God in my life, but it wasn t until the past year that I put Him first in everything that I do. I am at a point now in my life with God in control, and also with this great program, I am happier. This is big for me. I am proud of myself now more than I have been in a long time. I would like to give many thanks to all of the wonderful people that make this program possible. Without this program, I really don t know where I would be today. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 10

11 DAVID MCQUINN the pain. Throughout my life, I was raised around drugs and alcohol and there was always chaos in the house. At a young age, after I was beaten and made to drink a six pack of beer, my addiction began. I would use alcohol or drugs to cover up the pain I was going through. This was my pattern for many years. Every time I got hurt or depressed, I would use alcohol or drugs to cover up the pain, thinking it would go away. I didn t have a father figure in my life, so I did whatever I wanted. I didn t care who I hurt. All I wanted to do was to cover up Before I knew it, I was in and out of juvenile detention. I never went to church or knew about God. I just kept using drugs. Time and time again I ended up in prison and jail, and still used when I got out. I needed some help. That is when I found a faith-based program in Boise called the New Life Program at the River of Life Rescue Mission. Since I have been here, I have had some struggles, but I also have found out that God loves me no matter what I did in the past. He forgave me and has given me a chance to have a new life because I have been saved by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I have surrendered now to Him. I am beginning to have a new life that is clean and sober because of this program. I now have hope and strength to make it through. It is God who gives me strength. Thank you for allowing me to be here. God bless. 11

12 DENNIS KESSLER Drugs, lies, thieving, hiding, running from reality: this was my life after I chose to leave God at the age of 15. Mind you, God and I had a pretty good relationship. I just made a couple of bad choices that I was ashamed of. Like Adam and Eve eating from the forbidden tree of knowledge, I had sinned in a manner that I felt like I had to hide from God. Believing that I was hiding so well, I hid for the next 25 years. When I reached out to the New Life Program, I found God again. I have been sober for 13 months now (March 2018), the longest since I left God. That alone tells me I have found God again and am letting Him lead me in my walk through my life now, for if it was me doing it on my own, I would clearly be using. I give thanks for all the prayers from my family and many others. They helped to get me here so that God could save my life by teaching me that His way is better. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (NIV) 12

13 DINA FERRARI I smoked my first joint when I was 10 years old, and started drinking when I was 12. When I was 17, I moved out on my own and worked to support myself. When I discovered the world of exotic dancing, I had access to all the drugs and alcohol I wanted for free. I traveled all over the place dancing in other clubs whenever I wanted. This was the life, I thought. But it wasn t. Eventually, I lost everything I had and tried to kill myself three times by overdosing. I was diagnosed with severe depression. I had no self-esteem, no job, and no money. I drank from the time I got up until the time I went to bed. It was the only thing I had to stop from feeling anything at all. I felt hopeless, alone, afraid, and useless. I wanted to die. I couldn t live like that anymore. I found the Mission in Redding, California and they helped me get to the New Life Program here in Boise. I was was barely holding on to my sobriety but nonetheless holding on. God wanted me here in Boise - away from my family, friends, and everything that was familiar to me so that I could work on myself, my sobriety, and my relationship with God. I needed to become a believer and to accept everything the Mission had to offer me, to learn how to love myself, to have hope for the future and know that I am never alone. This journey that I have been on has not been an easy one. As a matter of fact, it has been the hardest thing I have done. There were times that I just wanted to walk out the doors of City Light and just go home to California. But I would just tell myself the courage doesn t come by walking through the doors it comes by not walking out the doors. I had to remember that the enemy was preying on me and my weaknesses. This journey has made me a stronger, grateful, and more loving person. I am less about what I have than what I want to give. The greatest gift I have received has been finding out how to accept Jesus into my heart. He looks at me as a child of God, and not as a person with a dirty past. I am very excited to see the plan that God has for me. And I hope that the future New Life Programmers see the graduates from the past and see that freedom is possible. 13

14 JOEY LANDIS My name is Joey Landis, and I am a graduate of the New Life Program. Since the beginning of the Program I am reminded now and again how blessed I am to be able to get this chance to break an age old cycle. Many do not get this chance, so for this, I am grateful and I am beginning to understand the value of life itself. My story is the same as many others, a disturbed childhood leading to an interruption of development causing many defects in my behavior. I am aware it is very hard to fight any addiction but you fight even harder when you start from behind. To all who are able to stand up in a society falling apart around us, you certainly have my respect. I applaud myself, too. At times I don t know how I was able to do it. I look up to the Creator for the answers though, as well as those here He works through. I pray for my brothers with whom I completed the Program and all the others still in and still to come. May everything good to come be evidence of God s love and existence within us all. To all who have been with me since the beginning and through my darkest days, know I am forever grateful for all the energy put into the repairing of the broken. This is my evidence of God s love and very existence, and my hope is to continue on this mass repair of what we call soul. To all who make it out: light the way for those yet still fallen. They look up to us. This is our responsibility for all our sakes. 14

15 JASON DANIELS My life became unmanageable at a young age. With no real direction or any self-worth, I felt comfortable with others who I felt I could relate to. Running with the bad crowd only brought short-term relief to my problems and long-term issues with crime and drug addiction. Any drug I could get my hands on I would try, but methamphetamine completely turned me into a monster. I would go to any length to get my next fix. I didn t like the person I had become and wanted to change. With several failed attempts and even more stays in jail and prison, I chose to surrender my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Through Boise Rescue Mission Ministries and the New Life Program, God has brought light back into my life. He has begun to fill the hole in my heart and has given me life again. It was not easy for me to believe in a God that says I m forgiven, even after all the destruction I caused. But over the last 15 months, I ve come to know Him and learn what He has to offer me in my life. Let all praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ. Through the Boise Rescue Mission and the New Life Program, God has brought light back to my life. -Jason 15

16 KENNETH ROWDY MARTIN I was not brought up as a religious person. I don t have any memories of church other than weddings and funerals. I know we had a family Bible, but it stayed in my mother s cedar chest. I knew about God, but never put much stock in prayer and, if I did pray, it was only when times were bad. I never came to know the power of prayer until I became involved with Boise Rescue Mission Ministries and the New Life Program. They taught me how to go about accepting the Lord in my heart. l learned the importance of going to church regularly, and reading the scripture as a believer, not as someone just reading about history. And learned how to go about confessing and the true meaning of repentance. I came to the New Life Program to get help with my lifelong addiction to alcohol, but it has opened my eyes to so much more. For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He alone is my Rock and my Salvation, my Fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. Psalm 62:1,2 (ESV) 16

17 LOU NEWTON I was a pretty normal kid up until I was about 15. That was when I got my wisdom teeth removed and tried opiates for the first time; I was in love and didn t know it. This was also the year I stopped going to church camp. Then at 16 I tore my ACL and needed major surgery. I was getting a lot of pain meds so I would hide them when my mom would give them to me. I re-injured my knee the following year and had a second surgery. This time I just told my mom I was taking care of my own meds. I got strung out on my prescription and then started buying them on the street. This was the beginning of my addiction. Life was bleak. Darkness seemed to follow me from an early age. It was the same over and over again; just falling on my face and not being able to stand up. Always falling over again, I couldn t get solid footing no matter how hard I tried. My life started really falling apart a few years before I came to the Mission. I was ruining relationships, I got to the point where I was just trying to kill myself over and over again. I got put into a mental hospital for a while and when I came out, I just fell right back down on my face. I didn t have anywhere else to go. My life has done a complete turnaround. Everything about my life is different. I m able to be honest not only with myself, but with everyone around me. I m able to really be who I m meant to be. It s so liberating. I m cooking now, and I love what I do! The Mission was a stepping stone for that. I came as a completely broken person, and now I remember who I am. God has given me a door through this place. I couldn t have done it without them. I m forever grateful. 17

18 PETER DANIEL CORE Life is sacred, however, we do not always view it as such. With our erroneous perspectives we form behaviors that tend to desecrate this divine creation. We position our momentum to work in opposition to the will of God, the Creator of the universe. The friction experienced on the path to sanctity frequently causes us to lose focus of the beatific vision. We begin walking on water towards Jesus, and as soon as we see a strong gust of wind we become filled with fear and start to sink. Such little faith we have as fallen humans. Just as St. Peter did in the book of Matthew, I, at one time, walked on water, living the life I knew I was suppose to be living. I lost focus, I got curious and was tempted, like Adam and Eve, to follow the path of the unrighteous. By doing so I unknowingly adopted the beliefs of Hedonism. Putting earthly pleasures on the top of my priority list, I became selfish, prideful, undisciplined, and a slave to my own flesh. I spat in the face of opportunity time and time again by deciding to continually participate in illicit activities. I surrounded myself with spiritually, physically, and emotionally ill people. Inevitably, I became more invested in my life of sin. It was through the New Life Program that God made His existence very evident and showed me that He had been there for me the entire time I had run away from him. He brought me back to Himself and began leading me in the right direction. I realized the potential that I have and how I can use it for good. I am thankful that the Rescue Mission. The donors who support this made it possible for me to have a new opportunity at life. God is truly changing my heart, changing my mind, and correcting my path. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 18

19 JIM ASH My name is Jim Ash. I am 39 years old and have two beautiful kids. My life prior to entering the Lighthouse Rescue Mission was filled with drug and alcohol use, fighting, stealing, drug distribution, job losses, lying to everyone about everything, not keeping commitments, running from the law, going to jail, and avoiding God at every turn. The last three years of my addiction were by far the worst. I spiraled out of control and was like a tornado to everything in my path. I seemed to be a lost person searching for a long lost friend or a long lost home. I wasn t exactly sure what it was. I remember laying in a storage unit two winters ago. I was using Meth with a needle and got up to make a shot. I was going to attempt to end it all. I loaded the needle and started what I thought would be my last time using. However, it was so cold outside that nothing would come out of the needle, no matter how hard I pushed the plunger down. It was frozen. Tears ran down my face. As I look back now, I know it was God that kept me alive that night because He had plans for me. Ones I could not even understand yet. For I know the plans that I have for you, plans of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 The Lighthouse Rescue Mission has taught me so many things. They first taught me that I matter and that I belong in this world. I was baptized a couple months after being here by Steve Moore at Ten Mile Christian, and that is where I continue to go to church. When I was at my worst they gave me HOPE, and are all the reason that I found the gift of the Holy Spirit while going through this program. I will not go one single day for the rest of my life without spreading the GOOD News of Jesus Christ to people every chance I get. Thank you, Boise Rescue Mission Ministries, Nampa Lighthouse, and all my support team from Ten Mile. Today, I am sober and have both my kids back in my life. I am moving into the transitional apartments and starting full time work. Jesus was that piece I was missing the entire time. He was also with me the entire time, keeping me safe and guiding me towards Him and this New Life. Thank you, Jesus. 19

20 RENE ANTHONY ESPINOSA DE LOS MONTEROS, II When I arrived at the Boise Rescue Mission, I was blind in my left eye and could barely speak. I also walked with a cane. This was the result of a likely stroke I suffered on December 26, 2016, due to my addiction to meth and drinking alcohol on a daily basis. I woke up 11 days later hearing the life support machine breathing for me and my pastor sitting next to my bed praying for me. The medical team and my doctors told my family that I wouldn t walk or talk again. After nearly losing my life - spending 36 days total in the hospital and in rehabilitation - and relearning how to walk, talk, and write, God has blessed me with my eyesight again and with a new life. God continues to bless me daily. Since I have been here in the New Life Program, I have been able to rebuild my life. I have been attending classes twice a week so that I may attain my GED. I have also cleared up my legal issues and have regained my commercial Class A drivers license. I was recently hired with a logistics long haul company out of Salt Lake City, Utah. I would like to thank everyone here at Boise Rescue Mission Ministries for these blessings and not giving up on me, even when I wanted to walk away. I have also been able to make amends with my father, mother, and brother, who at one time had given up on me and wanted nothing to do with me. I recently visited my father and mother in California and was given a key to come and go as I please. While I was drinking and using all this wouldn t have been possible. Thank you, God, for all Your blessings and for all my new brothers here at the Rescue Mission s New Life Program. 20

21 SAÚL MOLINA My name is Saul Molina. I am 31 years old and I am a believer of Jesus Christ. During my lifetime I have struggled with marijuana and meth. I was born in Nampa, Idaho in 1986 and have lived in Idaho all my life. The last 15 years of my life I have been in and out of jail, still using, hanging around the same people, having bad relationships, losing good jobs, and this last time landing in jail was it for me. There had to be a better way to live life. I knew there is more to life than what I been living in. In mid-october I found out that my ex-girlfriend was going to have my first child. November 13 was the day I got arrested. I spent three and a half months in Canyon County jail, not knowing what was going to happen to me. Then I was told that I was going to do a 6 months rider. I found out about the Lighthouse New Life Program while I was in jail. I got the application through the mail, and I turned it in that same week. Now, I knew that the 6 month rider was going to teach me things, but I was afraid that, when I got out of jail, I was still going to have the same mind set and the same friends. It was my second felony. My next time getting in trouble was not going to be 3 months or 6 months, it was going to be years. The more I learned about the Program, the more I was getting into it. Not only was it going to be Christian and I would learn about Jesus, I was going to make real friends, start going to church, and learn how to do things sober. The most important thing was to learn how to live life right. I got accepted to the Program, and good things have come to me because of it. My faith has grown and I can think more clearly. It is just a blessing that I am here. I am thankful and I want people who support the Mission to know how powerful what they are doing is. There is this one thing that I have learned about my testimony: it is not about me. It is about the power of what is happening in lives here. It is not just me talking, but Jesus is shining His light through me to get to others. 21

22 CRYSTAL FRASER I grew up in a pretty abusive and dysfunctional house. My step mom was abusive and my Dad allowed it. I was in and out of foster homes and a very unruly kid. As a teenager, I spent years drinking myself into oblivion and soon after discovered meth. Shortly after giving birth to a beautiful baby boy at 19, I left him to continue using drugs. I was in and out of jail and prison and in one sick relationship after another. I never held a job or kept any friendships, and I spent a lot of time looking for love in all of the wrong places. In 2007, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and, yet again, left her to continue getting high. I couldn t stop, and honestly, I had no idea how to live without drugs and alcohol. In 2011, I was in prison and heard about the New Life Program. While I was in the Program I learned that I could be loved in healthy ways, and I felt God s love and grace. But, after I graduated, I got into yet another sick relationship and relapsed. I was offered help, but would not accept it. I was off in my addiction for another year; this time was even worse than ever. I hurt everyone I loved, walked away from both children yet again, and turned my back on God. No words can ever explain the turmoil I caused myself and those around me my poor kids. In 2014, I got 2 more felonies and shortly after, I regained full custody of my daughter, but had no clue how to be a good mom. I couldn t get a place of my own, and even worse, I had lost my spirituality. I reached out to City Light and asked for help. They accepted me, and I grew close to God again. I learned how to get back to the godly life I wanted. They helped me get custody of my son, who turned out to be in an abusive home and I rebuilt some of the relationships I lost. Today I have been sober for 3 years and I am living accordingly to God s plan and His will. I have full custody of both of my children and I am repairing the damage I did during my drug use. We have our own place for the first time EVER, and even have 2 dogs. More importantly, I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and I remember daily what He saved me from. Without Him, I am nothing. Thank God for the people He put in my life and thank you City Light. 22

23 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1 (NIV) TO TALK TO SOMEONE ABOUT THE NEW LIFE PROGRAM: Women can call CITY LIGHT HOME FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN (208) Men can call LIGHTHOUSE RESCUE MISSION (208) RIVER OF LIFE RESCUE MISSION (208)

24 Restoring Faith, Hope, and Family Across the Treasure Valley since 1958 Simple, Safe, Secure Online Giving: BoiseRM.org MINISTRY CENTER & WAREHOUSE PO Box 1494, Boise ID Located at 308 S 24th St, Boise ID (208) THE RESCUE MISSION THRIFT STORE th Ave S Nampa, ID (208) CITY LIGHT 1404 W Jefferson St Boise ID (208) RIVER OF LIFE 575 S 13th St Boise ID (208) LIGHTHOUSE th Ave N Nampa ID (208) VWCS 869 W Corporate Ln Nampa ID (208)