New Phase At Trinity Mission

A new phase at Trinity Mission has begun (http://www.trinitylifeministry.com) and this means new opportunities for some people at Liberty Chapel. Trinity Missions is a local mission house for men working through struggles or addictions. Most of the men are court-ordered to come to the house, but some are accepted into the program voluntarily. The mission has the men go through three phases that in total are several weeks long. During this time people from the community, including folks from Liberty Chapel, can volunteer to "mentor" these men by taking them out, bringing them to church, and talking to them one-on-one.

I met with a man recently who entered the program voluntarily. He's described his life as a tangle of not knowing what love is and wanting to experience and know it from God's perspective. He was married for a short while when he was 21; he said that he wasn't very loving in that situation. He has two kids that he has not been in frequent contact with. Sometime after his first marriage he began dealing drugs and later worked as a "debt collector" for a year. During that time he had come close to death many times, including being beat up by five guys and another time when someone tried to cut out his kidney. He said sometimes when he went to collect debts he had to threaten the other person while their were kids were in the living room playing or watching television. He's ashamed of that part of his life and knows he needs a change.

More recently one of his housemates at Trinity had overdosed on heroin and was consequently kicked out of the program. He said that he had watched his friend literally flat-line four or five times. He recounted to me that this experience woke him up to how precious life is. Previously he had struggled with being able to value and appreciate people and life. Now he feels God is showing him how much life is worth. He's hoping he learns how to love people again.

Pray that he would stick through the program since being there voluntarily he can opt out at any point.