From death to life

When I arrived at Teen Challenge South Australia, I was completely broken. I was homeless, living in a tent on the Murray River in the middle of winter, planning my suicide. Seventeen years of addiction had landed me in this situation. Planning my death was the only thing that would bring me peace. It made being homeless bearable. It didn’t matter how broken my life was because I was dead anyway. I was just waiting for a tax return to land in my account so I could do what I had planned.

Teen Challenge SA is life-changing. God has been able to do more in my life in 8 months than I could in 17 years.

One freezing night under my sleeping bag, I was running through my plan. I pulled the sleeping bag off my head, and there was the shadow of a perfect cross on the side of my tent, made by the moonlight and a tree shadow. I didn’t know God; he wasn’t in my life, and I just stared at this cross. I felt like praying but had never prayed before. I prayed for strength. I prayed to God to get me through this. I thought God would just laugh at me because I didn’t know him.

One freezing night under my sleeping bag, I was running through my plan. I pulled the sleeping bag off my head, and there was the shadow of a perfect cross on the side of my tent, made by the moonlight and a tree shadow. I didn’t know God; he wasn’t in my life, and I just stared at this cross. I felt like praying but had never prayed before. I prayed for strength. I prayed to God to get me through this. I thought God would just laugh at me because I didn’t know him.

The truth, hope and peace I’d spent years looking for was here … I am barely a seed in the ground, but now I’m on good soil.

I shared a lot of meals with John and Jenny after that first lunch. They prayed over me, we did devotions, and I witnessed what a living faith was. They helped me understand who God is, and when I read the Bible, I was amazed at the love and grace I found inside – the truth, hope and peace I’d spent years looking for was here.

I spent three weeks with new hope and peace. I was still homeless, living in a tent, but I had found some work and thought I would turn things around until that $2600 tax return landed from my previous employment. I blew it – lost it all in one night! How could this happen? I was homeless and still struggling with this addiction.

I went to John and Jenny and told them what had happened. Sitting on the table in their home was a Teen Challenge SA newsletter – like the one you’re reading now. They handed it to me, and I applied that night. Two weeks later, I arrived at the rehab. Teen Challenge SA is life-changing. God has been able to do more in my life in 8 months than I could in 17 years.

If you take anything from my testimony, it is the glory of God, his Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit he left us. God’s plan is perfect! I believed once, prayed once, and God answered more abundantly than I could ever imagine. I encourage you to read Ephesians 2:8 and Psalm 40:1,2.

I was baptised on 10 December 2022. I am barely a seed in the ground, but now I’m on good soil. I am learning to rely on God’s strength, not my own. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you to everyone who has had a hand in saving my life. From death to life, Amen!