Anthony stood outside his parents’ front door, hungry and homeless, hoping they’d give him some food even though he’d broken their hearts. “I’d stolen from my family and they had to kick me out,” he says. “And still my mother handed out to me whatever food she had in the refrigerator.” He loved his family, but years earlier, Anthony had rebelled against their way of life. “I’d chosen to run the streets and get high,” he says. “Living that way rewarded me with prison, hospitals and homelessness.” Then, one morning, he awakened in an abandoned building and had a moment of clarity. “I realized if I kept getting high, I was going to die,” he says.
It was then when Anthony came to our Parker House Aftercare Program, where chapels, Bible studies and Christian counseling opened his heart to the Lord. “When I got here, I didn’t know who God was,” he says. “But now I believe in Him and know He loves me.” Anthony’s newfound faith has helped him become the man his parents always knew he could be. “I’m trustworthy now,” he says. “And they love and support me 100 percent.”
After graduating from the program, Anthony plans to minister to others who struggle as he once did. “I used to be blinded by selfishness, but now all I think about is who I’m going to give to and how,” he says. “I know God has plans for me.” “The Mission freely gave me genuine love and it changed my life.”Because of your generosity, Anthony’s heart has been filled with thanksgiving… and God’s love! “People said there was no hope for me; that I’d never get my mind or my life right. But today I’m filled with gratitude, compassion, love, peace, joy, purity and fulfillment. My life is a testimony.”
