This Week At The Mission...

October 20-October 26.

There's only one event I want to write about from the week.

Yesterday, I received news that one of our former clients overdosed and passed away.  He was a client who had recently relapsed from the program, and came by on Friday to pick up his belongings.  From the Mission, he went to a restaurant in Lowell where he entered the bathroom and proceeded to get high on heroin.  A waitress found him in the bathroom.

This is the most tragic thing to ever happen in my tenure at the Mission.  He was on my caseload a week and 2 days ago, and now he's gone.  I am in shock over this situation, and the residents at the Mission are going about life as usual.  Tragically, this is 'normal' for them, and they have experienced death as a result of getting high time and time again.  For me, it was hard to swallow - I saw this guy yesterday and the last thing I said to him was, "Hang in there, buddy."  

There is solace in knowing that a couple of weeks ago he was baptized, that we were able to have conversations that suggested at least a desire to know more of God, and I find hope in the fact that his baptism represents a change happening in his heart, that Jesus gave him new life, and that now he is with Jesus and the cycle of addiction has been broken in his life forever.

This Week at the Mission...

October 6 - October 12.

I only worked for three days this week, because our church went on a "Church Getaway" to New Hampshire on Friday.  It was a great decision to take off Friday and Saturday, since last week I worked A LOT.  

Two of my guys went MIA this week, one on Thursday night, and the other at the beginning of the week.  Today in the 10AM group, a senior resident said, "It's hard when someone you're close to doesn't listen to your advice and just decides to leave one day.  It's hard to watch someone go out like that.  It makes me not want to get close to anyone else."  I looked at him and said, "Welcome to my world."  

On a lighter note, Damon, who many have heard tell of before, celebrated a year of sobriety on Friday, the 10th.  It's a big deal.  Damon was in the Mission when Tyler and I first moved, and he was the first man we were close to who relapsed.  Many people prayed for Damon on that occasion, and also for us to know how to love him.  Damon is a special man, and it has been an answer to prayer to see him come back and fight for his sobriety.  I am really proud of him, and I was able to congratulate him on Friday over the phone.  It's excellent to watch him achieve this milestone.

Praise God for His faithfulness in Damon's life!

This Week at the Mission...

September 29 - October 5.

Wrapping up September, there's not a whole lot to report.  The Mission continues to run smoothly and we continue to see new folks enter our community.  

The week itself was wild, because I ended up working a lot of hours, 7 more than scheduled, due to various occurrences going on at the Mish.  Overall, though, it was an uneventful week.