Todd’s Success Story

When I lost my job last year and had nowhere else to go, God led me to the Ogden Rescue Mission, where I found a new life in Jesus.

I was a military child who grew up on a U.S. Air Force base in Germany. My father had a strong career in the Air Force, which eventually brought our family to Alaska. It was in Alaska that I grew up and began a 20 year career as a hunting and fishing guide.

It seemed like a good life, but looking back I can see how isolating it was and how it fueled my drug addiction. When I received supplies in the remote area where I guided hunting and fishing trips, part of those supplies was marijuana for the long Alaskan summer nights and dark winters.

For almost two decades I worked in the Alaskan wilderness while using marijuana. Eventually I realized it was hardly a life and that I needed to make a change. I reconnected with a friend from the air base in Germany who now lived in Utah. He said I could stay with him until I got back on my feet.

My parents had retired to North Carolina, so I had no real ties to Alaska. I accepted my friend’s offer. Later I connected with a local pastor in Ogden, and when I lost my job and could no longer afford rent, he suggested the Ogden Rescue Mission.

I believe this was God’s providence, because without God I would not have stayed at the Mission, since I was immediately skeptical. I learned about the New Life Program and that it lasted 13 months. That felt too long, but after weighing my options I knew I had nothing to lose.

Besides the length of the program, I was also skeptical about the Bible and the teachings of Jesus because I felt people could twist them to say whatever they wanted. But after attending Bible studies at the Mission and learning how the Old and New Testaments connect into one cohesive message, I believed.

I realized the message woven throughout the Bible is singular. God has made a way through His son Jesus to bring lost, hurting, and suffering people to Himself so they might have eternal life through faith. After I came to believe, I was baptized by my pastor at the Christian church I attend here in Ogden.

I have grown so much in my faith as I have continued through the New Life Program. The Mission assigned me a community mentor, Dave, who meets with me and counsels me through the Purple Book, which helps establish a biblical foundation for life.

Today I read the Bible and pray regularly. I feel that God has blessed my life through my connection to His Word. I used to live in depression and fear. Now I have goals and live with anticipation for what I can accomplish with God’s help.

When I moved into the employment phase of the New Life Program, I earned a job at a busy steakhouse where I make a good wage and work with likable people. It is busy and hard work, but I enjoy it and am able to save money so I can afford first month’s rent and a deposit on an apartment when I graduate. One of the perks is a free meal every shift. It is great food.

One of the things that matters to me now is talking to the homeless people who come into the Mission. I share my story and let them know I was once at rock bottom. I tell them that 13 months might seem long, but it goes by faster than you think. I share that nothing is likely to change without taking the step of joining the New Life Program. My hope is to encourage at least one person, if not more, to get off the streets, find God, and experience a changed life.

I am still a bit estranged from my mother and father. To my father, a strict military man, I have always felt like a disappointment. I have called him at his home in North Carolina while I have been here at the Mission and told him about my life change. He has replied skeptically that he will believe it when he sees it.

So I want him to see it. One of my goals is to travel to North Carolina soon and visit my parents’ home in the country. I want to knock on the door and have my dad see the new me. I want him to see the change God has made, be proud of me, and give glory to God.

After that trip, I want to settle down here in Utah with a small place to live, an affordable car, and my job. I want a simple life connected to God and His people.

I cannot thank you, the supporters of the Ogden Rescue Mission, enough. You have helped create a place where people like me can receive the help they need to move out of homelessness and into faith, employment, sobriety, and restored relationships. Your kindness has helped rebuild my life.