Missions Memphis Union Mission Mamma was Praying | Mamma was Praying |
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"I Didn't Need No Help"Visit just about any city in America and James has been homeless there. He spent 10 years wandering from place to place, sleeping under bridges, getting high. But his mama was praying for him. She had raised him with Christian values. "I knew Jesus," James says today. "I knew who He was. I just didn't put my trust in Him." When James came to Memphis, he found that he could be broke and hungry and someone here at Memphis Union Mission would still love him. We would take him in, feed him, give him a place to sleep, care for him. He also knew the Mission had a program to help people break free from addiction. But "I kept on thinking that I didn't need no program," James says, "that I didn't need no help, that I could do things on my own ... I could do things on my own and didn't have God in my life." But God's love outlasted his attitude.The day came when James couldn't face his own life. He knew the root of his problem wasn't chemical; it was spiritual. "I had a drug problem," James says, "but I needed a personal relationship with the Lord." When he made his decision, it was rock-solid. "I decided to give my life over to the Lord... That's what I did." No looking back. "It was something that I decided I wanted to do and something that I needed to do." James has graduated from our program and has been promoted to the role of resident assistant. Meanwhile, he has a steady job in janitorial service at a nearby apartment complex. He's saving money to get his own place. He's grateful for his new life. "If I hadn't come to the Mission," he says, "I would have been locked up or dead - because the path I was going down, it was coming to that point." And his mama? "Oh, man!" James laughs. "She's thanking the Lord for me. She's so grateful. It took me a long time to change my life around. She prayed for a long time for me to change. I was helpless. I had no power.... I got the Lord in my life now!" He shares the Lord with others, too, often sharing his testimony with coworkers. And in December, James headed to Mexico with one of our staff members and 200 other volunteers to cook meals for 10,000 hungry people, serving meals and ministering to needs. A lot like what we do here at the Mission every day, but on an even grander scale! Thanks for being a part of James' life ... his new life! |
