Stories You’ll Love

The love YOU share gives neighbors like Jermaine hope for a better life

“Now I know my purpose: to be the hands and feet of Christ.”

Jermaine was just 12 years old when his father abandoned him. “I was filled with bitterness and resentment toward him,” Jermaine says.

Though his mother and his church congregation tried to help Jermaine heal, his wounds remained. “I had this nagging void in me, this daddy-shaped hole, and as I grew, I tried to fill it with sports and girls, but none of it worked.”

When he was in college, Jermaine began numbing his pain with drugs, and for 27 years, he struggled with addiction. “I was killing my soul and the whole time God was telling me, ‘This is not what I’ve called you to.’”

Eventually, he was experiencing homelessness and came to our Shelter for Men, where he found a warm bed and nutritious meals. But he realized he wanted more. He wanted to find his way back to the Lord. “I knew God had a purpose for me,” he says.

That’s when Jermaine entered our Hebron Addiction Recovery and Discipleship program, where our Christ-centered curriculum helped him find and address the root causes of his addiction, and finally fill the God-shaped hole in his heart. “The Lord used scripture to point out errors in my thinking and challenge everything about me,” he says. “Now, I’m free from addiction and obedient to the will of God for my life.”

“My relationship with the Holy Spirit is thriving again.”

After graduating from Hebron, Jermaine went on to complete our Servant Leader Training, then answered God’s call to ministry when he joined our Bloomington staff as the Guest Services Coordinator. “God is working in me and through me, and I get to see Jesus’s work daily,” he says.

Jermaine now has strength for his future because of your heart of compassion for him and other neighbors in need. Because you chose to share God’s love, he has a path forward in life. “I have a healthy, biblical view of life, and I know my purpose: to be the hands and feet of Christ.”

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