Joel
You gave Joel the refuge to grow closer to God.
Cherry Street is the last place Joel ever expected to find himself.
“Before I came to Cherry Street, I thought that only crazy people went there,” says the softspoken 49-year-old. “I used to tell people I’d rather be dead than come to Cherry Street. Now I believe that if I hadn’t come here and really gotten into the Word of the Lord, I’d be dead.”
Raised as a Christian by parents he describes as “wonderful,” Joel had a good home life. He was a devoted son, too. From 1994 to 2007, Joel lived with and cared for his mother, fulfilling a promise he’d made his dying father.“
Dad was in the hospital and knew he wouldn’t get out,” Joel remembers. “He asked me to take care of Mom. She didn’t have me till she was 40, so she was in her 70s then. I quit my job and stayed home to help her, because I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone during the day in the neighborhood where we lived. I also cared for my uncle, who moved in after Dad died.”
Missing his father terribly, Joel began to drink too much, a problem that escalated after his mother died in 2007. He didn’t have a job, so he couldn’t pay the rent. “I was so devastated by my mother’s death that even if I’d found a job, I probably couldn’t have kept it,” he claims.
“I had my last drink on October 15, 2008, and began Ready For Life on October 22,” he says. “I knew I had to get serious and stay sober this time. In 2007, I’d gone to another alcohol treatment program, and it didn’t work out. I just wasn’t ready to accept the idea that I had to stop drinking. When I got into Ready For Life, I realized it was the time and place to give it up. At Cherry Street, I felt I wasn’t fighting the fight alone.
“I got into Bible study, Christian living class, and morning devotions. I have read the Bible and prayed more at Cherry Street than I have in years. I feel closer to the Lord than I have in a long, long time.
“Coming to Cherry Street was the best decision I’ve made,” stresses Joel, who with the help of Matthew, his case manager, is looking into attending Bible college to become a minister. “I’m glad the Lord brought me here.”
Joel’s inspiring story is the result of your prayers and gifts to Cherry Street Mission Ministries. Every day, we see people who, like Joel, never thought they’d need our help. God bless you for making certain it’s there when they need it.
