By Tom Bond, Director of Programs
A picture says a thousand words. Transformation – a word we use at Helping Up Mission to describe the amazing journey of our program members.
Michael Knighton is a man who truly exemplifies this definition. As you can read in his story, Michael had more than his fair share of bad breaks growing up that led him to a life of crime and violence. He learned to take advantage of others and prey upon people’s “goodness”, an attribute he viewed as a weakness. As he projected a façade of toughness and callousness, underneath that mask was a man yearning for God’s love. So, he learned to mask his pain with drugs and alcohol.
But today, after completing the one-year recovery program, Michael is a completely new man, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He presented himself broken and empty before God, and allowed the Holy Spirit to fill his heart. Now, Michael has no need for drugs and alcohol and no need for masks. He is, as the scriptures declare, a new creature in Christ.