Looking in the mirror… I can see how God has changed me
Abandoned by his father as a child, Ronald used drugs and alcohol to mask his deep pain, but it only made his despair worse. “I lost everything, I had nowhere to go.”
As a child, Ronald was haunted by the pain of knowing that his father lived nearby but wanted nothing to do with him. Ronald was raised by his grandmother and uncles, but his father wouldn’t even acknowledge him. “I felt abandoned. It was probably the most traumatic part of my childhood.”
As a result of this abandonment, he had a lot of anger problems throughout his high school years. “I was rebellious. I was tempted by peer pressure, and I had no one to lean on—no one to tell me not to give into it.” His older cousins encouraged him to use drugs as a way to cope with his pain, and that temptation turned into an addiction that maintained a crippling hold on him, even into adulthood.
He was able to hold a job, but he burned through every paycheck rapidly, spending it all on drugs and chasing a high that could never satisfy him. “I’ve never been to prison, but I was imprisoned within myself by the addiction.”
I finally hit a point where I was just tired of it all. That was my rock bottom.”
“I lost everything, I had nowhere to go,” Ronald remembers. “And the people who loved me started loving me from a distance.” The absence of his father had driven him to drug use—and now he saw himself losing even more family members. He had to make a change.
“I knew about Wheeler, and I knew that if I worked hard to change myself, the program would be successful. They would help me start over.” Walking through the doors of Wheeler Mission, he instantly felt at peace. “They opened their arms to take me in, no hesitation. I was nervous and a little scared to take the step, but once I was here, I knew it was the place for me.”
Ronald’s spiritual transformation also began when he joined the recovery program at Hunt Training Center in Bloomington. “Before coming here, I could say I knew of God, but I didn’t really know Him or have a relationship with Him. Everything changed when I gave my life to Him here.”
In addition to his work in the recovery program, Ronald works as head of housekeeping at Hunt Training Center, overseeing the newer members of the program and making sure everyone has the support they need.
With this new community and support for his recovery, Ronald has a fresh outlook on life. It helped him heal from the pain of abandonment in his childhood. “I’ve learned how to study the Bible and build a relationship with Jesus—those are the most important tools I’ve been given here. I feel like they are armor around me. I’m reminded that my heavenly Father will never leave me.”
Ronald is grateful for YOU and your incredible generosity. Your prayers and support have helped change his life. “Looking in the mirror now I don’t just dwell on where I’ve been and the mistakes I’ve made… I can see how God has changed me and where I’m going.”
