It is never too late to change your life, and nothing should hold you back from living a better life. What is important is that you acknowledge your mistakes, learn from them, and use those experiences to help others. The story below is about Adam Mickleburgh. Now a qualified law expert, he once thought his brain was damaged because of drug abuse. The road to discovery brought him to full restoration.
Sometimes you must hit rock bottom — emotionally, financially, mentally, and spiritually — before you can change your life for the better. Only at the bottom do you realise how far off course you are and that you must make different life choices. This is exactly what happened to Adam, who had to confront his dysfunctional behaviours before he could invite positive change into his life. Because of an addiction to crack cocaine and heroin, Adam spent two years in prison in a foreign country, was deported to South Africa, and finally ended up living on the streets of Durban.
Humanly speaking, he had no way to escape from the pit he had dug for himself. After seeking help at many rehabilitation institutions, things had only ever gotten worse. Then he heard about the CYPSA restoration program at KwaSizabantu Mission. Adam followed the program and began attending church services and speaking with a mentor. As he began to confess his sins, God entered his heart and began to work inside him. After the mentors went with him to make amends with his parents and others he had wronged in the past, he started working at the mission station. Adam later got married and was blessed with a beautiful baby girl.
He said, "For over a decade now, I have experienced the unceasing kindness, love, selflessness and patience of the co-workers, mentors, and seniors at CYPSA. These people have surrendered their lives completely to help people like me and rescue them from the gates of hell. Had the Lord Jesus Christ not intervened in my life and had I not been helped by CYPSA, I am confident that I would have lost my mind to dagga years ago.
Over the past couple of years, I have met dozens of individuals who have become psychotic from using dagga and who will never be normal again. Not even medication can help them, and it is only through God's grace that I have been spared and am of a sound mind today."
NOTE: Read restoration stories such as this on the website of our sister publication, Devoted, for free. Link: https://www.devotedmag.co.za/