Great Scott
Today I sat and took orders again for Angel food ministry. My new friend Mark and his friend Scott were supposed to join me. Mark had to work but sent Scott to help me anyways. Iv'e seen Scott at church a couple of times but never talked to him. I thought from the way he dressedd and acted that he was one of the staff at Salvation Army.
It turns out he is a recovering crack addict in the program at Salvation Army. We sat and took orders and he shared his story with me.
Scott has expierienced the mountain top of financial success. He ran a thriving business of concessions on the NASCAR curcuit. His business was the $6.00 lemonaid stands that you see. He followed the curcuit around and would make 150k a weekend. As long as it didn't rain. He has a 1/2 million dollar home with a wife and two children. He made alot and spent alot. He gambled and partied and finally lost his marriage. His wife left him and he crashed and burned into the drug scene.
Scott finally hit rock bottom and landed homeless in Grand Rapids. He is now 5months into his recovery and has given his life over to God. He was really excited because he was going to sing on praise team tomorrow. Scott is taking things one day at a time.
The sad thing is I've been told that after five years only 5% of addicts stay clean. I sure hope my new friend is one of those. I can only pray to a big God.
I'm sure pastor Adam and Christy have expierienced this crisis all to many times. These guys are big heroes of mine. They continue to press on in spite of the relaspse rates.
Some of the things that happen in suburban churches seem so petty now compared to this. I have to watch myself because I can feel myself becoming really cynical towards them. They have tons of resource and they throw it towards programs that do little to affect their community. Okay I'll stop before I offend the people that read this.
I don't know if I will ever feel comfortable or right attending a church like I used to. It all seems so unaffective and unchangeable.
That's probably why I apprecite the Overflow vision.
It turns out he is a recovering crack addict in the program at Salvation Army. We sat and took orders and he shared his story with me.
Scott has expierienced the mountain top of financial success. He ran a thriving business of concessions on the NASCAR curcuit. His business was the $6.00 lemonaid stands that you see. He followed the curcuit around and would make 150k a weekend. As long as it didn't rain. He has a 1/2 million dollar home with a wife and two children. He made alot and spent alot. He gambled and partied and finally lost his marriage. His wife left him and he crashed and burned into the drug scene.
Scott finally hit rock bottom and landed homeless in Grand Rapids. He is now 5months into his recovery and has given his life over to God. He was really excited because he was going to sing on praise team tomorrow. Scott is taking things one day at a time.
The sad thing is I've been told that after five years only 5% of addicts stay clean. I sure hope my new friend is one of those. I can only pray to a big God.
I'm sure pastor Adam and Christy have expierienced this crisis all to many times. These guys are big heroes of mine. They continue to press on in spite of the relaspse rates.
Some of the things that happen in suburban churches seem so petty now compared to this. I have to watch myself because I can feel myself becoming really cynical towards them. They have tons of resource and they throw it towards programs that do little to affect their community. Okay I'll stop before I offend the people that read this.
I don't know if I will ever feel comfortable or right attending a church like I used to. It all seems so unaffective and unchangeable.
That's probably why I apprecite the Overflow vision.
- Connect
- Grow
- Serve
We connect with people, help them grow, and join in serving so we can connect with more. the circle just keeps going around. Even our small groups will be servant based. Along with discipleship we will be serving.
I started this blog last Saturday. The cable went down and I haven't had time to finish.
Randy
posted by Randy W. @ 6:15 PM
1 Comments:
At Dec 7, 2007, 7:44:00 AM ,
Anonymous said...
randy, i have found my calling...
let's quit our jobs and run lemonade stands on the nascar circuit!
holy cow...
======
in all seriousness, i'll be praying for this guy. the relapse rates ARE really high, and he needs all the prayer and encouragement he can get.
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