What “gifts” are on your mind today? One of the greatest gifts that can be given to anyone is the free gift of the Gospel! A great way to share this gift with others is through giving out Gospel tracts. In the store, at a restaurant, at the gas station….you can leave them everywhere and you just never know who may pick it up and find the Truth that will make them free! Read this true story below and see how sharing the gospel through a tract can make a difference in someone’s life.
Where My Story Began
Today, I am 40 years old and I want to share with you my testimony. My experience with the faith based addiction program, RU, has forever changed my life and my relationship with God and others. As a young girl, I was raised with a very religious upbringing and have been instilled with beliefs of God, Jesus, and the Bible. As I became a teenager, I fell away from these teachings and began to run with the “wrong crowd” of people and thought because I had faith that God would not let anything “bad” happen to me. This is where my story began.
The devil moved in on my life. I continued my “unhealthy” lifestyle, moved out of the family home, and was soon married to an alcoholic and drug addict. I thought that I could save this person because I was strong and had my faith. To my dismay, without God I was not strong, and the devil knew it!
I found myself waking up many years later as a lost child away from God. Now I had gotten “strung” out on drugs, doing anything that became available to me, in and out of county jails, treatment facilities, rehabs, hospitals, and alienation from the family that loved me. I had done all the traditional “programs” that courts had ordered, tried the self-help which soon became the self-destruction. I remembered crying out to God for His help. My relief came after landing in the county jail once again.
God Got My Attention With A Tract
I received a tract from another inmate who said, “You want this? I’m throwing this out. I don’t need it, and I can do it by myself.” I took it and read it and found what it said to make a lot of sense…it was as if it were from God. The first principle read, “If God is against it, so am I.” This played throughout my head, and I found myself looking around the room at just what was going on and how God would feel about it, and how I felt about it, and from that moment change began. God really got my attention through that tract.
Next was the most powerful moment in this journey. The local church with a RU Recovery Program came to the jail and had a program for our chapel time. I saw an array of people come, and they were happy and proud in their faith. Three individuals stood out. First was a couple who gave their testimony and shared their experience, and I felt like they were talking straight to me. I wanted what they had…happiness and the love of God in my life.
Faith Based Recovery Program:
After that, I scheduled an appointment to see someone with the RU Recovery Program. During that visit, a sweet Christian lady came to see me, and I knew at that very moment I was doing what God wanted me to do. My relationship with her was instantaneous, and I knew she would be my mentor for this journey I was about to take, but I did not know how much this impact would be on me. I did everything she told me to do.
She gave me the “It’s Personal” Daily Journal and an Overcomers book. As I began to work in these books (which led me to the Bible) I saw the difference in my life and so did others! What I wanted in those individuals from RU was coming true in me. Then, other around me wanted what I had, so I shared about what I knew from RU. I worked the program while in the county jail and met with my mentor regularly. When it came the time to leave, (which by the way was 20 days early) I called her and told her that I would be at the RU Recovery Program that Friday. I was received with open arms and discovered a peace I had not felt for years.
That Tract & It’s Impact On My Life
God used that tract to save my life and give me back all the wonderful things I thought were lost. To sum things up for you, before RU, I was homeless, addicted, and alienated from my family and children. I had lost hope, given up, and did not care. I was living the typical addict life: stealing, drugging, and destroying my life and hurting everyone around me. Now, I am amazed at all the wonderful things that are happening for me. I have a good job! My mind and body are healthy! I am living back with my family and children, who said they would never have anything to do with me! That is a “God Thing”...Praise God!
So, if you feel lost or have tried everything with no positive results, know that there is an answer…The RU Program and the love of God! It has changed my life and it will yours also. God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. The RU family helps addicts like me find our way back to God. God will guide us in rebuilding our relationship with Him and with others.
To learn more about the ministries of RU Recovery, please visit rurecovery.com
