Meet Mike

“I felt like if I don’t trust God this time, I’m gonna die.”

Mike awoke in a state of confusion. He was lying in a hospital bed with wires attached to his chest and a tube down his throat. In time, he learned he’d been on life support for three days, the result of a heroin overdose.

This was not Mike’s first overdose. He’d struggled with addiction since the age of 19 and was used to surviving out on the streets. But this near-death experience grabbed his attention in a big way, and he began crying out to God for help and guidance.

One week later, he was released to Helping Up Mission and joined our year-long Spiritual Recovery Program.

“At first, the length of the program scared me, you know?” Mike says. “But I was broken and spiritually bankrupt. And I felt like if I don’t trust God this time, I’m gonna die. Now, I am trusting in God’s will and I’m extremely hopeful.”

Mike has been at Helping Up Mission since January and is making tremendous strides in his recovery. Part of that is learning to see himself in a whole new light – to see what God sees.

“I don’t see myself as a castaway anymore,” he says. “That’s because the Mission sees me as a human being, not a number. And they’re teaching me to be a better man.”