It all happened so slowly. Day by day, drink by drink, Phillip’s life was slipping away. But he couldn’t see it. Or he didn’t want to see it—until one morning last winter when he looked in a mirror and didn’t recognize the man staring back. What happened?

“I was raised by godly parents who loved the Lord and loved me,” he says. “I was protected, cared for and happy. I didn’t know anything about drugs or alcohol. After high school, I got a job as a painter and started living on my own. But I wasn’t ready to deal with everyday life.”

Phillip drifted from God and started drinking. Not a lot, just enough to take the edge off. But life kept getting harder. His best friend died, so he drank more. He became a father, so he drank to cope with the responsibility. In 2008, the recession hit and work became scarce. Then there were car issues, relationship issues, money issues. More and more, alcohol became Phillip’s crutch as he started losing jobs, losing friends, disappointing his daughter and messing up again and again.

“But I could never see it,” he says. “Not until that day I looked in the mirror. I felt so much shame and embarrassment. I finally had to admit it. I was an alcoholic. And it was time to change. I came to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, because I knew I had to get God back in my life.”

From day one, Phillip turned his life over to Christ. He surrendered everything, and in return, Christ surrounded him with a community of godly men all committed to one thing—”getting our lives back on track, living the lives God intended for us, and doing it together. We pray together, encourage each other and lift each other up in the Lord.”

“Today, I’m sober and I’m filled with a joy I haven’t known since I was a child—because someone like you cared,” Phillip adds. “You don’t even know me, but your support for the Milwaukee Rescue Mission and your love for people like me changed my life. Thank you!”