God's Love in Me

Jerry Bridges dragged his 98-pound frame out of his chair and tottered across the floor.  Three steps later he collapsed from exhaustion.  Frightened, he called a friend who took him to the hospital.  Later, a doctor told him, “God must really love you.  You had about three more days to live.”

Jerry’s emaciated body had taken a beating from years of drug abuse.  “They’d taken control of me and I didn’t want to live anymore,” he says.  “But then and there, God gave me a vision.  He asked me if I wanted to live.  When I said yes, He said, ‘Then I will restore you, but I want you to go into the world and glorify My Name.’”

Thankfully, Jerry joined the Life Plan Program at Raleigh Rescue and says, “I found God there.  The program is set up so the only thing you can do is focus on recovery and God. One particular course, Search for Significance, made a very positive impact on my life.”

The counselors at the Mission were honest and encouraging.  “I was in a complaining mode for a while,” he recalls.  “My counselor said, ‘Ask yourself what part you play in the situations you complain about.’  I think about that all the time.”

Jerry finished the program’s first course and felt a strong sense of achievement.  “I deprived myself of graduating high school and I felt like a loser.  Completing that first course gave me the initiative to go on.”

April 2006, Jerry completed the Life Plan Program and soon moved into his own apartment.  This winter, he enrolled in Raleigh Rescue Mission’s Today’s Office Program, honing his computer and job skills and preparing to tackle his GED.  “After I complete my GED, I’m going for my realtor’s license,” he says.  “I hope within five years to open Second Chances Homes for low-income families who want to buy a house.”

God’s love is almost tangible in Jerry’s voice and face.  He is sincerely grateful to the Mission and those who support it.  “I would love to shake the hands of everyone who gives to the Mission.  I hope you will thank them for me.  If they wonder if they are giving to something worthwhile, have them come look at me.”