"I'd thank them ... with all my heart!"

Like so many others, Phillip started using drugs as a lonely teenager down in Florida who had few friends. “The easiest to talk to were those who frequently drank on weekends, sometimes before or after school,” he says. To be cool, Phillip joined them. It began with occasional drinking and smoking pot, then progressed to selling drugs and, finally, to shooting cocaine. “To get my hands on drugs, I’d rob, cheat and steal,” he says. But when Phillip started stealing from his family, they drew the line and changed the locks. He wasn’t welcome at home while using drugs.

Omaha or bust

After two weeks of living on the streets in Orlando, Phillip found a way to get up to Omaha. “I’d heard about Omaha’s recovery program being pretty strong,” he explains. “I was told about the Open Door Mission...so I came...I got fed and I stayed here that night.” That first night was the beginning of transformation for Phillip. After he entered the New Life Recovery Program, the first and most significant thing that happened was his spiritual healing. Phillip had always known about Jesus, but now he experienced Him in a personal way and learned that, with Christ, he’d never be alone or lonely. “I really, really like that,” says Phillip. “They have taught me to pray, to trust...now Christ is a personal friend that I can talk to when I’m lonely. So the biggest change is that I’ve found Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.”

Giving thanks

This holiday season, Phillip has plenty of reasons to be thankful. First, he thanks God for leading him to the Mission. “I’d probably be out on the streets panhandling,” he speculates. Instead, day by day, he continues to overcome his addictions, and he’s making plans to go into the military after graduation. This is a long-time dream, and Phillip feels it would be a good way to give back, get an education, and re-enter society. His list of blessings is a mile long. “If I could speak directly to the people who donate to the Open Door Mission, I’d thank them...with all my heart.”

Thanks to friends like you, Phillip is a new man! Without the Mission, he says he’d probably be spending this holiday season on the streets.

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