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Home > Outreach Ministries > Victor Valley Rescue Mission > Stories of Changed Lives Changing Lives for Good
Now, thanks to the Victor Valley Rescue Mission, I have gone from living in a cardboard box, to handing them out full of food to help the needy and the homeless. My life today is far from perfect and I still have a long way to go, but I look forward to each new day that the Lord blesses me with spent volunteering at the Victor Valley Rescue Mission. For the first time in my life, I have respect for myself and for what I’m doing with my life. I also know that, with having faith in God, the caring support of the Victor Valley Rescue Mission, and my brothers at the Life Recovery Program all my dreams can come true. -Jim Click here to help people rebuild their lives and be a part of success stories like these.
I truly believe, without the help I have received from the mission and everyone that supports me with either their time or generous donations, I would probably be dead or in a very bad place. To be able to focus on getting my life back on track and not have to worry about food or shelter is one of the main reasons I am succeeding in life today. Now, a new exciting life has been shown to me, one that I have never experienced or thought possible. To see and experience true Christian values and to feel the love and compassion that I have experienced since I came to the mission is truly awesome! For the first time in a very long time, I have hope for my future. I give thanks to the Lord and the mission for giving me the love I have in my heart.
After losing all my possessions and a place to live, I didn’t know what to do. As I walked down the street with nothing but the clothes on my back, I cried out to God asking for His help. My prayers were answered. I came to the Victor Valley Rescue Mission a broken man, and didn’t know what to expect. Since that day, I have been delivered from a nasty drug addiction and learned what life is about. This life on earth is all about love. By opening my heart to Jesus Christ, He is working miracles in my life. I am now full of Jesus, with faith, hope, and love. Love being the most important of the three, for with love in your heart you can’t go wrong, because love never fails. I am grateful for the mercy and grace God has given me, which I did not deserve. By the power of Jesus Christ, I have been made into new creation, and have never felt better in my entire life of 46 years. I give all thanks to Jesus and will praise Him for the rest of my life. -James
I think back to where I went wrong in life. After all, I took college prep classes, ran cross-country, and worked part-time at the local Taco Bell during high School. The average American kid right? Maybe, but deep down inside I was wreck. I wasn’t considered “cool” in High School and was picked on quite frequently. I learned to cover up the pain I felt inside, but in reality, I yearned to be accepted. I was a time bomb waiting to explode. I was introduced to crystal meth when I was 19 years old. Finally, people wanted to be around me. I had “so called” friends. I was accepted. All of my problems were over…so I thought. All I had found was a temporary solution to a long-term problem. My addiction turned out to be my biggest problem of all. A hailstorm of empty promises, lies, and deceit seemed to engulf me, not to mention jail time. Self-destruction loomed at every twist and turn of my life. I was confused, angry, and addicted. What had I made of my life? I was lost and broken. I knew life wasn’t meant to be like this. Something was missing. In 1998, Jesus touched me. I was homeless and desperate. I accepted Him as my personal Lord and Savior. Beautiful ending right? Not quite! I ran from Him, my problems, and life in general. It has been 10 years since that dark time in my life and I’m just now experiencing the freedom that God wants me to have. I am entirely grateful to the Victor Valley Rescue Mission for their support and encouragement during my one-year stay at the Awakening Ranch recovery/discipleship program. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” Thank you Jesus! - Chris Marek
When I finally called out and asked for mercy, I saw that His grace had never left me. As hard as I tried to destroy everything, He wouldn’t let me. I thought my life was over physically, mentally, and spiritually. But when I called out, He reminded me that he would never leave me of forsake me and that I should take his yoke because His burden is light. I am finding that everyday is becoming lighter and lighter. I was released from that whale at the Victor Valley Rescue Missions men’s program. I have found friendship here with my brothers and respect for the leaders, who are true men of God. They have helped me hear God’s calling to love Him and love His children at the rescue mission. Since I have been here I have learned to love myself. WOW! Praise God! Thank you Jesus for your grace and mercy, thank you Victor Valley Rescue Mission for helping me help others as I learn to help myself. -Hal Croak, a disciple of Jesus Christ. |
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What if you had everything you ever wanted or needed growing up, but you still felt empty, hollow, and uncomfortable inside, as if something was missing. So you turn to alcohol at a young age to numb that feeling; after time it’s just not enough so you turn to methamphetamines. Before you know it, you’ve lost everything - wife, kids, parents, and you wake up in prison. Upon release, you realize the only thing you have left is that empty, hollow, uncomfortable feeling and then you add to add to it life on the streets. What do you do? Well, if you’re as blessed as I am, you find to the Victor Valley Rescue Mission’s Life Recovery Program. With their help, love, support, and counseling my life has been transformed. Most importantly, with their help I have figured out why I felt so empty and hollow inside, it was the Lord and all the love He has to give that was missing in my life.
My name is Brian and this is my story. In the last 24 years, the longest I have stayed sober was 4 months. I tried everything I could think of to stop drinking; counselors, psychiatrists, and organizations dedicated to the treatment of alcoholism, but nothing ever worked. I had finally come to the point were I lost everything due to alcohol; my fiancée, my job, my home, and the respect of my family. I had a choice to make, I could choose death or ask for help. A counselor that I had become friends with saw what bad shape I was in and told me there was a place that had a good reputation in the community that might be able to help me. That place was the Victor Valley Rescue Mission. I called them, met with Ron Wilson the mission director, and was accepted into the program that day.
I was living a life of chaos, confusion, and hopelessness. My entire adult life I chose a dead end road by using illegal drugs (I was a drug addict). I thought I would use drugs the rest of my life, even though I didn’t want to. I just couldn’t stop.
When I was growing up, I didn’t plan on becoming an addict. I grew up with a “functioning” alcoholic Mother. The oldest of four children, life wasn’t always a Brady Bunch episode! I grew to dread my Mother’s addiction. Although I loved her, I couldn’t stand to see her in one of her moods (which was most of the time). The verbal abuse flowed like a fire hose out of control. One minute she “loved me,” the next “I would never amount to anything and I was just like my Father.” Jekyll & Hyde comes to mind when I’m asked to describe her.
When I was asked to write a testimony I thought to myself, “What do I have to say that anyone would want to hear”? Then I remembered the story of Jonah and the Whale, and how he ran from the will of God and how my life is very similar. I was a happy child. I knew the Lord, was baptized at the age of 9, and again at 16 years old. I was a straight “A” student, Boy Scout, got a GED, worked for the Forestry Department, and was a soldier in the US Army. I was married with 3 children, but remember starting to stray away from the Lord in my teens. I started to party, drink, and do drugs, even though I knew this
