“I’m the person God created me to be.”
When he was a little boy, Marcus longed to spend time with his mother. “She was a drug addict and never really there for me, so I grew up at my grandmother’s,” he says. “It broke my heart because I loved my mom.”
Marcus was just 13 when he began numbing his pain with alcohol, the beginning of a 25-year struggle with addiction that cost him jobs and his family. “I wasn’t there for my wife and kids so my marriage broke up,” he says. “Being away from my two daughters was the hardest thing.”
He was determined to keep them in his life, but over time he grew distant. “I’d tell myself I was going to call them on their birthdays, then I wouldn’t,” he says. “One night, I realized I was putting them through what I’d gone through. I said, ‘I’m done doing this to my kids!’”
It was then Marcus entered our Men’s Life Transformation Program, where Bible studies and chapel services led him to recommit his life to the Lord. “I’d put God on the back burner, but at the Mission, I realized He’d always been there for me,” Marcus says. “Now I’m dedicated to my walk with God 100 percent.”
He’s also found emotional healing through Christian counseling. “There are great mentors here,” he says. “I’ve processed a lot of problems. Now I’m clear minded and have peace and a sense of self-worth.”
“I have joy in my soul.”
Marcus plans to graduate from the program and live in our transitional housing while he works and saves money for a place of his own where his daughters can stay. “They’re so happy to see the changes in me,” he says. “Now I can be there for them when they need me.”
Because of your generosity, Marcus’s heart has been filled with thanksgiving… and God’s love! “Before I came to the Mission I was lost, but now I’m the person God created me to be.”
To read this issue of Bay Area Hope, click here.
Help other people like Marcus…
Marcus’ story of hope and healing is inspiring. Our long-term recovery programs exist to help other men and women find healing. Will you help provide this help to others?