By Ralph Williams
(Psalms 118:1) “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.”
I want to give thanks to God for the “Mission of Hope”.
“Lonnie and Carol Miller packed up their family and everything they owned to move to Mobile, AL in answer to God’s call to help the lost, broken, and addicted. In 1971, they opened Mission of Hope for men to offer freedom from addiction through Jesus Christ. As the years passed, and the drug and alcohol epidemic in America grew; it became evident that the lives of women were also being destroyed by addiction.”
I want to thank God for the Mission of Hope for it was created by God because of His goodness and mercy.
For over 15 years I have volunteered as a teacher and counselor at the Mission of Hope. In that time, I saw hundreds of men that God saved and changed. The key to change in the life of an addict is the same for anyone. It is the gospel of Lord Jesus Christ that will change anyone’s life.
Change happens by the power of God. When anyone confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believes in his heart that God has raised Him from the dead, then he is saved. (Rom. 10:9) This is the gospel; the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. We do not have any power to change anybody’s life outside of the power of the gospel that God has given us. The only way for anyone can be saved, for a life to be changed, is by hearing the gospel and believing.
What is the goal of the Mission of Hope? It is to make sure that every addict enrolled into the program hears the gospel and has as much Bible study as possible in the time that they have at the Mission of Hope.
The world has other ways that they say work. All of them are based on psychology and on the power of addict’s own will power. There are programs based on other drugs. These programs exchange one drug for another drug. But the world’s ways only work for a small number. There is no way that the world can change the heart of any man. (Jeremiah 13:23) “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” What an addict needs is a change of heart which only God can give men. This is what happens when a man believes the gospel.
The Mission of Hope is gathering the ones that are addicted that realize they need a change of heart and shows them that the only way that their heart can be changed is by the power of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
I say again: I want to thank God for the Mission of Hope because it has taken the power of God which God has offered mankind and used it to changed the lives of many addicts here on earth and made it possible for them to go to heaven to be with God.
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