Warmed With His Love

Teka waited nervously by her mother’s mailbox at the edge of the yard—the closest she was allowed to come toward the house. Perhaps she’d get a glimpse of her children today! On the other hand, seeing her children would only remind her of how much she’d lost to her drug addiction.

This experience was one of many that had covered Teka in shame for the past five years. She’d served time in prison, tried several drug rehabs, lost her children and been diagnosed with a seizure disorder.

Then, in May 2007, she was referred to Raleigh Rescue Mission’s Community Medical Respite Program, which serves homeless men and women with medical needs too severe to cope with on the streets, but not serious enough for hospitalization.

In our respite program, Teka received something long absent from her life. “The staff gave me smiles, a sense of belonging and family. They gave me a reason to be more than just another person on the streets.”

Wrapped in the warmth of encouragement and the unconditional love of Jesus Christ, Teka began focusing on changing her future … and her attitude. “I thought you had to be a certain way to be accepted by God, but I learned when you turn to Him, He is there to pick you up. It’s not just a change of attitude, but having respect for Him and for myself.”

Our clinic regulated Teka’s medications and by November her seizures were occurring only once every couple months! She began to take an interest in how she looked. And her mind sharpened as she attended Bible study, classes in emotion and anger management, and adult education.

“I looked in the mirror and didn’t feel hate and anger at myself anymore,” she says. “There was a hollow place in me and the Mission filled the hole with love and encouragement.”

The day finally came when Teka was allowed to walk past the mailbox and right into her mother’s house! “Now I talk to my mom and children and there’s no yelling. I ask how they are doing … they show me their school papers … my mother cries when I leave because she doesn’t want me to go.”

“I call drugs a slow suicide,” she concludes. “That’s why I’m blessed to be at Raleigh Rescue Mission.

To read other stories of changed lives, click here.