Luther grew up in a church-going, hard-working, loving family. But somewhere, Luther’s life took a disastrous turn. By the time he was 13 he was using drugs.

Out of Control His family confronted him on many occasions, but he was in such denial that he didn’t realize that his life was spiraling out of control.

Eventually, Luther was arrested for manufacturing meth-amphet-amine and sentenced to prison. Shortly, after his sen tencing, his mother passed away, and the rest of the family stopped all contact with him. It was the lowest point of Luther’s life.

Without Hope “I hated myself.” I was angry at my family for reject-ing me and disinheriting me. And I felt hopeless. My mom had been my best friend, and I felt that I had caused her death.”

Do you want to change? Some time later, Luther found himself homeless, on the streets of Santa Rosa. It was December. The rain was pouring down. He was staying under a bridge. He prayed, “God, I can’t live like this. Please get me out of here.” He heard a voice say, “Go to the Mission, it’s just down the street.” So he went.

One of the members of the New Life Program saw the despair on his face and said, “Man, you look like the wheels came off. Do you want to change your life?”

It was right there that the light came on. He did want to change his life. But he didn’t know how. He joined the New Life Program at the Mission and that change began to happen. He was told that “half measures avail noth-ing.” So he gave himself totally to the Lord and to a commitment to change.

A whole new life Today Luther is employed in a good job. He gives back to the Mission as a volunteer, and has a loving church family at Com-munity Baptist Church, where he has been given the opportunity to serve as an usher.

Additionally, his relationship with his family is being healed. “My sister calls me.” Luther said. “She says she loves me and I know it’s true. I hadn’t heard that for a long time.”