Arthur loved his wife and son. He wanted to be a good husband and father, hold a good job and provide for his family. But his addiction to crack cocaine kept getting in the way.

His wife, who is disabled, and his 16-year-old son were disappointed and angry at Arthur’s behavior. He sadly recalls the day when everyone finally had enough.

“I was afraid to leave the house

because I owed the drug dealer money, so I got high at home. I was so high I tried to give my wife medicine without any water. She told me I was pitiful. My son came in then, and he didn’t know what to do. He was just baffled.”

Arthur stumbled to the basement where he begged God for help. “I cried, ‘God, what do I do? Where do I go?’ He led me to Open Door Mission.”

At the Mission, Arthur surrendered his life and his pride to God. “I could share my deepest feelings and fears with the staff without being embarrassed. I allowed God to show me things in my soul that had gotten buried over the years. I felt safe.”

Arthur had been in treatment centers every year of his 18-year addiction, but he’d never been drug-free more than a couple months at a time. Now, eight months clean, he is experiencing the kind of life for which he’d hungered.

“When you’re hungry for spiritual food, you never get full. You lie down and think about God, you wake up thinking about Jesus. I pray and He is always there. He delivers me and gives me strength.”

Arthur has also discovered the strength that comes from fellowship with other Christian men. “There’s power in a circle of men. I used to think, ‘What can men give me?’ But now I know without strong, healthy men in my life, I can fall and there is no one to help me up.”

Each Saturday, Arthur joins his wife and son for the weekend, and he reports, “Things have gotten tremendously better! We sit and talk more, go out more. We like each other. And though he’s cautious, my son has warmed up and let me in.”

Arthur’s hunger for a new life has been satisfied. He—and countless others—have found hope at Open Door Mission because faithful friends like y ou care enough to give.

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