“I chose you!”

(story reprinted with permission from LIFE Recovery, an Operation Manna partner ministry)

I came to LIFE Recovery with no hope; addicted to crystal meth, homeless and penniless. My only child was not speaking to me, and my mother had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. I was hard, angry and full of hatred.

My mother had tried her best to help me; truthfully, I was stressing her out. Raised in a strong Christian home, I had a strong urge to return to my roots. I had been running for a long time and I was desperate.

At LIFE Recovery I was taught week after week that Jesus loves me. I knew He loved the world. What I didn’t realize was that he loved me as an individual.

After I had been at Life for about two weeks, I got on my knees and asked Jesus to rescue me as I surrendered to His will. As time went by, Jesus melted my icy heart, knocking down the walls I had built so that no one could get in.

I started to shine as I walked in the light. I wasn’t just a rotten apple with no reason to live anymore. My daughter talks to me again, I was able to nurse my mother, I was baptized. I watched my mother decline physically and mentally, staying clean for five months. She passed into her life of eternity on January 16, 2015.

When I came to LIFE Recovery, I had no intention of staying. The only explanation I have is that God led me to Life, planted me there and said “You’re not going anywhere. I chose you!”(written by an alumni client of LIFE Recovery).

LIFE recovery is a Christian residential addiction treatment centre for women, and has been an Operation Manna partner since 2014.