Finding Hope in the Resurrection
Steven and Dona didn’t even know each other 10 years ago. They also didn’t know about the role the Mission would play in their lives.
“I’ve probably ridden my bike past the Mission, going down Wilson, hundreds of times at least. I just never looked twice over here,” Steven says.
But one day, he found himself not just looking twice, but on our doorstep.
Life Seemed Hopeless
“I’d been on the street for like 11 years in Santa Rosa. My addiction totally controlled my life,” Steven explains. “I’ve slept in bushes. I’ve slept under a bridge. I’ve slept behind buildings.”
Eventually, Steven’s addiction and lifestyle landed him in jail. When he got out, his parole officer recommended the Missions. Within a few days he had joined the New Life Recovery program. Not long after, he began attending church.
Dona, who leads worship at that church, remembers seeing Steven walk in and sit down. Something about him caught her attention. Even though she hadn’t gone through our recovery program herself, she was no stranger to addiction.
“I drank a lot and I did recreational drugs,” she says.
Dona knew that real change in Jesus was possible – she’d experienced it. She’d seen her brother, who graduated from the Mission a few years before Steven arrived, experience it. So she prayed that Steven would experience it, too.
Thanks to God’s grace and the support of friends like you, he did. When Steven graduated from the New Life Program in 2010, that’s exactly what he got – a whole new life – a life walking with Jesus. A life married to Dona after 8 months of dating. A life that’s better than he ever imagined.
“God will help you if you let him,” she says. “When I heard Jesus ask me to come to him, it just clicked.”
New Life Is Contagious
“The men look up to him because he’s been there, he’s done it,” Dona explains. “He’s proof of the pudding that you can go through this program. That you can make it.”
Both Dona and Steven know that Jesus is the one who changes lives and hearts, so when they got married, they decided that they would do everything they could to share the hope of the resurrection with as many people as possible. Today they do that by helping mentor and lead recovery classes here.