Words from those we serve..

This past Thursday, I had the opportunity to speak with one of the guys we serve, Brian W. He was kind enough to share his story.

One of the first things you notice about Brian is his faith in God. He was raised by his grandmother in Plaquemine, LA (who he says also raised many others). She made sure he grew up in church and learned the Bible. He says he found God at 13.

When he was a young man he strayed away from God. He quit listening to his grandmother and his family. He dropped out of high school and got involved with the wrong people and wrong things.

In 1989 he went to Job Corp in Arkansas where he got his GED. He returned to Baton Rouge but was still doing his own thing. He got into using and selling drugs. He lost the trust of his family. Although he tried rehab several times at other peoples suggestion, it always failed.

That was until 17 months ago when he checked himself into a 30 day rehab program in Morgan City, LA. It was at that time he was ready to admit that he had a problem. Brian realized rehab wouldn’t work if others wanted him to go, only if he took that first step for himself. I asked him what made it different, what made him want to go? He said he was reading his Bible one day and the wind blew the pages to the book of Matthew. He was drawn to the scripture and what he read convicted him. He was ready to take steps to get help for himself. In rehab he prayed and reconnected with God.

Although he has been clean for 17 months, Brian says that each day is a struggle. I ask that we all pray for him so he will have the strength to continue winning the battle against his addiction.

For Brian, one of the best things about being clean is having the love and respect back from his family and friends. He says they no longer worry about leaving their things out around him, they know their stuff will be safe.

I asked him how he found out about the No Place Outreach. He said one day he was on the bus and this lady got on with a plate of breakfast. He asked her where she got it and she told him about the outreach. He hopped off the bus right there at the UPT (where we used to serve) and had breakfast with us. That was over 1 ½ years ago. When I asked Brian to share what the No Place Outreach means to him, he only had one word to say, “Love.”.

He says he has been places before where he could feel the presence of evil, but when he’s at the outreach he knows he feels the presence of God.

He attends a local church on Gardere where he also attends Bible study. He enjoys reading the Bible and connects with David & Joseph, he says he relates to them and can put himself in their place where they struggled.

Each week there is a Bible study at Roselawn during the Thursday morning outreach. Mr. Parnell, who facilitates that part of the outreach, has asked Brian to take part in sharing the Bible.

Brian told me his grandmother before she passed away told him he would be a preacher. He had a doubtful look on his face as he said it. Who knows, maybe grandmother knew more than he gave her credit for.