Alumni

Not only did I overcome addiction, God has restored my physical health. It’s a miracle how I put my body through what I did and can now say I’m in the best health of my life. I’ve overcome severe depression, anxiety, and most importantly I know my identity is in Jesus Christ and am now a child of God. Since going through the program I now know who I belong to and His purpose for my life.

My relationship with my daughter, mother, sister, the friends I’ve been kept — I have a better relationship with deeper meaning. My sanity has been restored, I’m no longer taking any medication aside from B12 supplements, melatonin when I need it, multi vitamins etc. I have hope for a better future, new opportunities, my finances are finally getting stable. People are more compassionate in their understanding of my past (seeing as I don’t live that way anymore). I am developing new healthy relationships and seeing how true family operates and seeing great examples of how to raise children from my boss and his wife. Not that it’s all sunshine and rainbows, I still have days where it’s hard and am discouraged but compared to my old life the difference is a comparison of black to white. I honestly don’t even like comparing because that insinuates similarity.

Because of the Heartland Ministry, I learned that my past does not define my future. Heartland Recovery gave me the tool for success; the Word of God. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing powerful enough to change a person such as myself and the condition my drug abuse had caused.

God has given me favor, and the courts have given me full custody of my two youngest children. He reconciled me back with my three older children as well. I am remarried to a godly woman, and an active member of 3 communities. I’m also a head pastor of a street/missionary ministry and the list goes on. I know I have used a lot of “I” statements, but none of this would have been possible without God and the sacrifice Christ Jesus made. The greatest honor is not only watching my kids grow in Christ but being a conductor of it.

God helped me to overcome my fear of letting people in, overcome the cravings of addiction, and restore my relationship with my parents. He helped me to also understand how to interact with others and what it means to be in the right relationship with someone from a biblical point of view.

God has helped in restoring my marriage. While living in my addiction, my heart became hard, and I had no feelings. God has helped me get my feelings back; now, I can feel love and cry again. God has given back my confidence and courage to be the man God called me to be. Finally, God has given me hope that things will be different and that I can do everything through Him who strengthens me.

God, through the Heartland Men’s Recovery Program helped me overcome many obstacles. I came to the program completely hopeless with an addiction to drugs that had consumed me, to the point of death, several times. The real freedom came when the issue at hand was pointed out to be an issue of sin and not just the drugs. The drugs were just a symptom.

Through Heartland Men’s Recovery Program God showed me a new hope, and a way that I can continue in this freedom. That if I were to remain a part of His body then I could walk in this freedom for the rest of eternity. God has made a way for this to be possible, what a miracle. I was extremely blessed to be able to spend the time that I did in the HMRP. May this blessing belong to many others that may come to Christ behind me.

Becoming a resident at the Heartland Women’s Home in 2021 changed my life. I came into the program not just broken but shattered. But God… being so gracious and merciful, took a wretch like me, and put me back together again. I thought, “There’s no way I could ever open up and tell these women, these strangers, about all of my addictions, my secrets, my troubles, my life, my story.” God changed that fast! The enemy was telling me that I had to carry those burdens for the rest of my life.  God said the opposite! God said that He would listen “and so will these women I’ve put before you.” He guided me into the arms of a wonderful group of ladies who love God more than anybody I’ve ever seen!

I didn’t choose Heartland; God chose Heartland for me. I see that now. He knew just what I needed, and that was love. Not just any love, but His love, and that’s exactly what the Women’s Recovery Program gave me.

Restoration is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about the change that has happened in my life. Most importantly, restoring my relationship with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. While I was in the program and since graduating, the Lord has begun restoring my relationships with my children as well. And I look forward to those relationships growing as I grow in Christ. Little did I know that freedom from addiction was just the beginning of the work that the Lord was doing in my life.

When I finally arrived at the doors of the men’s center there started a change in me. Always had problems accepting that I could be loved because of my past. However the Lord showed up one day about four months in my program and said to me, “I love you my son!” It broke me and at the same time it started to change me. To finally accept that I could be loved by my creator started to change that I could be loved by others as well.

God was really showing me that I could be loved by others through my life group. It was a beautiful thing to know that people I didn’t know cared and loved me! There is so much that the program gave me but the most important lesson was about love. Because of my life group and the church I reach out to others in the men’s program to show them the same love that was shown to me. I pray that it impacts their lives as much as mine!