Newsletter
"I Can Really See God Working Here!"
For a time, it was just Matt and his mother. Then, there were “some stepparents.” Matt was shuttled back and forth between New York and California, back and forth between two homes and two families, not finding acceptance in either place.
At 16, he left home and headed for Reno, Nevada, where he got a job as a busboy. It was there that he discovered alcohol and how it could take away the pain he felt.
God protected Matt when his car rolled three times at a little over 100 miles per hour, and life went on.
At 29, Matt gave his life to Jesus.
But he still didn’t understand what “having a relationship with God” was all about. He went to church “for a while,” was married and divorced, and worked hard. But his life was “unfulfilled and empty.”
When a job in Nevada ended, Matt came to Montana and worked at a job he “hated” for six months before deciding to head back to Las Vegas. Taking a few days to “get his head together,” Matt decided to stay here at the Mission.
Matt knew we had a chapel here, and he’d been thinking about God “a lot.” Once he discovered our Christian Discipleship Program, he knew that it was for him!
“The whole program brought me closer to the Lord. For the first time, I understood what it meant to be ‘in the Word.’” Matt’s even started reading the Bible on his own…a chapter a day.
It only took a couple of months in the program for Matt to realize that God had a “big plan” for his life.
“I’ve not only grown in Christ, but in myself.”
Today, he’s part of our Leadership Training Program. In addition to working the front desk, where he greets and directs those coming to the Mission, Matt’s supervising others who work at the Mission.
“I find myself praying for more compassion, more understanding and a little more wisdom.” Matt knows from experience that it’s not that the guys who come to the Mission are bad people; some of them just come from some pretty shaky backgrounds…just like his.
“I know in my heart this is where God wants me,” says Matt. “I just want to serve others…to work for God for the rest of my life.”
Matt recently left the Mission. We pray he is doing well on his own.
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