“I should have been dead a long time ago,” Terry says. “I came to realize God’s been keeping me around for a long time. So, it was just time for me to give it back to him and make my life stronger than it was.”

Terry’s life transformation has been decades in the making. Since 1995, he dealt with one tragedy after another — the loss of his beloved wife, followed by his sister. And then, his mother a few years after that. Faced with unimaginable loss and sorrow, he began “running the streets” as an escape. He turned to drugs over and over to numb the pain, living in abandoned houses and letting “the devil control me.”

Terry tried to get sober but says it was always for other people, never for himself. Even after landing in prison for five years, he gave in to the darkness — picking drugs back up the day he got out. “It was the worst thing I ever did in my life after being clean over five years when I was in prison.”

But God had a better plan for Terry and wasn’t going to give up on him. By God’s grace through the compassion of friends like you, Terry would not only get another chance — he would also find a purpose and a new reason to live.

And it started when Terry enrolled in the New Journey program at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission.

Terry says he expected to come to MRM for food and a shower, then go right back out on the streets. But here, he found so much more than meals and a bed. He found a new future full of hope — thanks to the support you helped provide that offers life-changing resources like counseling, Bible study, job-training skills and more.

Terry knows he had to put in the hard work himself, but says that friends like you made his second chance possible.

“I just appreciate that you all didn’t turn your back on me like a lot of people have done,” he explains.

In some ways, Terry says life at 62 years old is as good as it’s ever been. He’s no longer ashamed of himself and says he’s strong. And now, he’s looking forward to living his life faithfully and reconnecting with his daughter — who he says has always been there, rooting for him.

“I know now there is a God, and I’ve been blessed,” he says.

Terry proves that even the deepest, darkest shadows are no match for the powerful, everlasting light of Jesus Christ. Through God’s love, it’s never too late to change your outlook — or your life. Thank you for helping to transform lives like Terry’s every day through your partnership with the Milwaukee Rescue Mission!