From “Garbage” to Growth: JASON’S JOURNEY
Life would be so much easier if accepting Christ as Savior instantly transformed all our thoughts and behaviors—but Jason knows it doesn’t work that way.
After giving his heart to Christ in April 2006, he knew he was up against a fierce battle with the “old man” in him, all the “garbage” in his soul and spirit left by his childhood.
Jason’s father was a drug dealer—police cars outside the house were a familiar sight for young Jason. Verbal abuse from his father was also familiar, and fear of the death threats constantly leveled against his father. “After me, they will come after you,” his father taunted him. “At age five, the reality of death would sometimes hit me, the feeling that death was imminent, no matter what I did,” Jason remembers. Under that kind of stress, it’s not surprising that Jason always looked for escape. And in his neighborhood, drugs were always available. “Anything that would alter my mind would help the monster inside,” he explains. “The monster was being fed and I knew better, but I did it anyway because it made the pain go away.”
After God drew Jason to Himself, Jason managed to stay clean for a few months, but, “My old desires were still there, and I was holding on to a lot of garbage. I lost my focus.” To stay focused, he needed a caring Christian environment—just what you support at the Springfield Rescue Mission. The welcome Jason found here meant everything to him. “We can come here as we are, and [the staff] are willing to look past that to dig into the core of our problems. They focus on the future, and they provide a place for a man to get true help. The men here come from similar tough backgrounds, but they are different, approachable. I knew it would be all right.”
Today, thanks to your compassion, Jason is on a journey to leave the “old man” behind and become an entirely new man in Christ. “Everyone deserves a chance,” he says earnestly. “When the old isolationist tendencies come up, I seek out other guys here and talk it out with them. There’s a harmony here.” With his whole future in front of him, Jason is excited to see what God has in store.
Thank you for supporting men like Jason as they journey to a totally transformed life, trading the “garbage” for a clean new beginning!
