Richard has been in our 12-month Spiritual Recovery Program twice over the past 4 years. Each time, by all accounts he was doing well and, by his own admission, he was appreciating all that was happening in his life. While here, Richard earned his high school diploma (setting a Mission scoring record along the way). He also enrolled in community college and began taking coursework.
Unfortunately, Richard’s drug of choice, alcohol, took over both times and he never graduated from the Program. But, while he was here, he also hooked up with a sponsor from Alcoholics Anonymous, who is also affiliated with the Mission. Our zero tolerance policy meant that Richard could not come back to our facility for 6 months after each relapse. But his sponsor never gave up on him, continued to meet with him and helped him regroup his life.
Two weeks ago I had the privilege of attending Richard’s one year anniversary to celebrate his first 365-straight-days clean from drugs and alcohol for decades. I sat there feeling like a proud papa. While he never finished our Program and will not be counted among our graduates, we are proud of Richard’s accomplishment and consider him one of our success stories. I appreciated the opportunity to teach Richard in class every day and to invest in his spiritual well being. I am so thankful that he did not quit. I am so thankful for his sponsor who never gave up on him. God has been working in Richard’s life all along and Helping Up Mission got to play a small part. Success doesn’t get any sweeter than this.
Sincerely,
Pastor Gary Byers
Spiritual Life Director