love BEYOND HOMELESSNESS

Walking To Baton Rouge

“I had no car, no money for bus fare, and no friend to take me to the Army’s program where I was determined to get the help I really needed,” Matthew James says. “Nothing was going to stop me, so I began walking.

“I walked out of the ‘trap house’ where I was staying and getting my regular fix, and one of the dealers got in my face for a block or two trying to get me to turn around.”

But Matthew was resolute. Literally carrying everything he owned, Matthew knew the seven-mile trek before him would be hard. Looking back, he realizes that the Holy Spirit was helping him put each foot in front of the other.

Matthew likens his testimony to the parable of the prodigal son recorded in Luke 15:11-32. When the son “comes to his senses” while literally wallowing in a pig sty, he got to his feet and began the long walk back to his father’s house.

“We’re not told how far he had to walk,” Matthew says. “The Bible just states that ‘he went to a far-away country’ so it’s a sure bet the distance he had to walk was a lot more than seven miles. But to me, it seemed my walk was just as far,” he adds, chuckling.

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“All I had was in a laundry bag and whatever I could carry in my arms,” he says, “and every now and then I dropped a few items simply because I couldn’t carry everything for so long. But I was determined not to stop, even if it meant leaving what little possessions I had behind and lost forever.”

What spiraled Matthew to the depth he now found himself took about ten years. A string of deaths and depression caused him to sink lower and lower into forms of addiction.

At 16 he found his mother dead, and that experience was so traumatic he began using alcohol to cope. When he turned 22, his beloved grandmother diedand his drinking got worse, only this time he began depending on heroin as well. By the time he was 27, his grandfather passed. By then only crack cocaine helped him forget.

“It was the worst mistake in a series of ‘worse mistakes’ I made,” he admits. He was “out of control” and realized something drastic needed to be done.

It took Matthew a good part of the day to walk the seven miles to the Army’s recovery center. As soon as he entered the foyer, he dropped into a chair in exhaustion.

Immediately admitted into the Army’s CSRC (Corps Salvage & Rehabilitation Center) program, one of the first things Matthew enrolled in was every Bible study course offered.

“I couldn’t get enough,” Matthew exclaims, “and the more I learned about God’s Word, the more healing I experienced.” Oddly, his anger and the cravings for alcohol and drugs disappeared, and he adds, “it doesn’t work that quickly for everyone, but it did for me. I believe with all my heart that God took all that stuff away!”

Matthew remains as an employee. He manages the Army’s emergency shelter, also located on Airline Highway in Baton Rouge.

“I never want to lose sight of who I used to be and what I can now become-all because of Christ’s redemptive work and the power of the Holy Spirit,” he says.