Many of you may remember Steve’s testimony from his time in our Road to Recovery Men’s Program. Steve graduated from the program in 2018, and God has been at work in his life ever since. We’re thrilled to share a wonderful update with you!

Check out our Winter 2024 Newsletter

My name is Santana, and I grew up in Puerto Rico. I moved to New York in 1994, but my family life was very disruptive and dysfunctional. I always knew that something felt “off”, but I couldn’t really figure out what the truth was. Eventually, I found out that the man my mother said was my father was not my true father. She had been lying to me my whole life. All I needed was real love from my mother, and I wanted her to apologize for how much she hurt me. I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere, so I decided to go out on my own when I turned 13. Though now I can see that God carried me through every stage of my life, I had to go through some tough times. I turned to drugs to help me cope with being alone. I started struggling with PTSD and my mental health. I fell into the wrong crowd because I was looking for the acceptance and love that I never got growing up. I didn’t believe in God, and I felt like I was better off figuring things out by myself. Seven years ago, I made the decision to get clean because I knew my drug use was negatively impacting my life. I thank God that I have been able to stay clean. I moved to Rhode Island three years ago to try and reconcile with my mother, but it didn’t work out. I didn’t know where to turn or what to do. My doctor gave me some information about the Mission and told me that they had a shelter there. I didn’t know if there would be any long-term solutions for me there, but I decided to go for just one night and see what happened. Once I got there, I quickly learned about the Road to Recovery Men’s Program. When I heard about it, my heart started racing and I knew I was supposed to sign up. I felt like God had sent me there to clear up a lot of issues in my life that I was confused about. Once I started, I could see the work that God was doing in me, and I didn’t want to give up. Now, 11 months later, I am so glad that I stayed. The Mission brought me back to church and reestablished my relationship with God. When I started applying the lessons I learned in the classes and in counseling, I started to see a difference in myself. I see now how His grace carried me through all those difficult times that I couldn’t see my way out of. God has given me the family that I have been looking for my entire life at the Mission. I don’t take any of my blessings for granted now. I never want to go backwards to where I came from, and I know that starts with fixing myself and the issues that brought me here. I’m almost finished with the program, and I am currently completing my internship as a resident assistant in the shelter. I love helping people because I can relate to where they have been. I want to show them that this is not all there is for them. There is more to life than dealing with drugs, trauma, and other life altering issues. I want to show everyone who comes here the love of Christ. Your donations are making a difference in helping people just like me. I am an example of the life-changing work that the Mission does! Thank you to the Mission for helping to completely change my life and thank you for donating from the generosity of your heart!

My name is Kevin, and 12 years ago, a lot of my poor choices and life decisions started to catch up with me. After years of time in and out of jail on drug charges, I found myself homeless. I really wasn’t sure where to turn, until my ex-girlfriend’s father told me about the Mission. I wasn’t sure that my life would ever really get better, honestly. I remember hearing about God during the chapel services, and I believe that the time I spent in the shelter helped me to rebuild a foundation for a different life. The Mission gave me an assurance of security and routine during a very chaotic time. This kept me from spiraling down a very devastating downward path. However, I can’t say that it all turned around for me right away. Desperate to make a living, I got sober but continued to sell drugs to provide for myself. After another arrest and relapse, it all clicked one day. I couldn’t continue on this path, or I was doomed. I wanted life to be different. I wanted the life that I knew I could have, and I knew that if I put the effort that I used to sell drugs into a legitimate job, I could create that for myself. A friend got me a job at Venda Ravioli in Providence, and I have worked my way up to becoming the general manager of the store. For the first time, I can say that I honestly love my life and my job. My relationships with my family have drastically improved since I got clean. Without hearing about God at the Mission, I know for a fact that my journey would have been so much more difficult. I know how far God has brought me, and I am blessed to be able to give work opportunities to people who have stories just like mine. The Mission truly gives back, and it was the only place that was able to be there for me during that challenging time in my life. Every night they gave me a hot meal, a bed, and a shower. I said it before, but that sense of security was invaluable to me. Thank you for giving to a place that is making such a big difference!

My name is Laura, and my story at the Mission begins more than ten years ago. In 2013, my husband and I found ourselves completely alone with nowhere else to turn. We were both severe alcoholics, and we had lost our children and home due to the nature of our addiction. I was genuinely hopeless, but I remember feeling safe the moment I came to the Mission. I stayed in the shelter for about a year, and it became what I now consider my “safe place.” After listening to the stories of the staff, I decided to join the women’s recovery program at Grace’s House. At this point I still was not ready to fully surrender myself to the Lord, my only focus was getting my children back into my life. I didn’t want to give up alcohol, and I didn’t feel like I should have to. I still wanted to live life on my terms, even though my choices were destroying me. I was raised in the Catholic faith, but I never truly understood what a relationship with God meant. Through my time in the program, I slowly began to understand that the Lord was trying to get a hold of me. I remember Ms. Edwina, the assistant director of the program, telling me “Whether you get your kids back or not, you are here to let the Lord work on you and show you how much He loves you.” That statement was life-changing for me. Through Scripture, Christian literature, and the Bible classes, I began to see for the first time that God did love me. I had never known that kind of love before. I trusted that I could put my faith in His plan, not mine. During my time at Grace’s house, I was able to have regular visitation with one of my sons. This meant so much to me, and I knew that God was working behind the scenes. After graduating from the program, I started working as a resident assistant in the women’s shelter. I surrounded myself with accountability and stayed in the Word of God as I learned what it meant to live a Christian life and stay sober while living independently. I still prayed earnestly to be reunited with my other children, and I know that God heard my prayers. In 2020, I received a phone call from my mother, who my children lived with. She asked me if I would like to have my oldest daughter come stay with me for a while. I couldn’t believe it! I was so overjoyed. This began many months of reconciliation between me and my children. My daughter now lives with me and my husband, and my sons visit us all the time! I am a grandmother now and have the joy of seeing my son raise his kids. I could have never imagined how much God could do with my life if I had a willing heart. I am still deeply involved in my church community, and they provide so much valuable support that my husband and I need. We took my daughter to church, and she got saved at a youth Bible camp. Praise the Lord! I am so deeply grateful. I still work at the Mission 2 days a week, because it truly is a safe space for me; it is where I found the Lord. Not every moment of life is easy, but I now know that you turn your life over to God, He will be there for you through all the ups and downs. I always tell the guests in the shelter that this is not the end for them, even though it may feel like it. Jesus is all you need when you find yourself in that hopeless place. Your donations to the Mission help keep the doors open and the lights on. Even though you may not physically see it, you are changing lives. In a tough world, this ministry is a beacon of light. Thank you!

Check out our Fall 2023 Newsletter

Hi, my name is Dave, and this is my story of the redeeming power of Jesus Christ. I didn’t have an easy childhood. I was violated as a child by people I knew and trusted. I was abused by many people who I thought were my friends. My home life was very disruptive and difficult. I remember hearing my mom and my grandparents fighting for custody of me back and forth in court. I ended up living with my grandparents and my father, however my stepmom really became the supporting figure in my life. She was there when I was sick; she was there when I cried. My dad and I had a very strained relationship. All my life I tried to please him but never could, he always said I was useless and a nobody. It got to the point that I always believed that. I guess that is why I always gave up. I would start something but never finish it through. Deep down I guess I was hurting and ashamed of who I was. This created a deep wound that affected me for a large part of my adult life. In 1990 I got married to my first wife, and we had three children together. In 1994, we went our separate ways, and I sought God for the first time. I asked Jesus to come into my life at Faith Christian Center. A friend took me to church. It took a few visits to church, but I eventually went up and said the sinner’s prayer. I was now a Christian, but I still had a lot of unresolved issues in my life that needed to be dealt with. In 2000, I got married to my second wife. In 2004 she asked for a divorce on my birthday. I did not know where to turn or who to call. Something was wrong. I just didn’t know what. For so long I blamed her, but I now see that I cheated on her not with another woman, but my addiction to pornography. What I thought was only harming me deeply affected all my most cherished relationships. It took me three times to come back to the Providence Rescue Mission to finally realize this and receive my freedom in Christ. It wasn’t until I truly opened my heart to God that he revealed to me a lot of the things I faced in my life were a result of my past and my beliefs about myself. Has it been an easy battle? No, it hasn’t. However, I am learning to let go of my past by God’s grace and mercy. In 2017, I rededicated myself to God. This time I did it from the heart, not only from my mouth. Because of the counseling, classes, and Biblical guidance given to me at the Mission, I started to see a genuine change in myself for the first time. God is truly restoring my life and everything in it! I am now a resident assistant at the Mission, and I have the privilege of leading Bible studies, teaching my own class, and pouring into the men currently in the New Life in Christ men's program. The scripture that I stand on is: “Those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”-Isaiah 40:31. By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, I now have confidence, endurance, patience, and trust in myself and in who God made me to be. Jesus Christ not only saved me but gave me a better chance at life. I would not be here today without The Providence Rescue Mission, Gate Way Pentecostal Fellowship, and Sean Carew. I now know that if you dream big with God all things are possible, Amen!

Hi, my name is Jennifer, and my story has been anything but what you would consider easy. Growing up, I faced every form of abuse you could possibly imagine. After a lifetime of being violated and hurt, I decided at the age of 17 that I wanted nothing to do with God at all because if He really loved me, He wouldn’t have put me through all that. I was so angry, and I felt like I could handle life better on my own. After getting married and giving birth to my daughter, I became addicted to the pain pills the doctor gave me while recovering from my c-section. This began many years of chaos and turmoil as my life fell into shambles. I completely lost my relationship with my daughter, McKenzie. All the while the unresolved trauma from my past fed my addiction and I felt like I just couldn’t stop. However, I now see that God saw me in my despair. After surviving human trafficking, overdose, and a lifestyle of destruction I found myself in prison. As soon as I was released, I completed another residential recovery program in Rhode Island. There I learned how much God loved me and for the first time found myself staying clean from harmful substances. However, the Lord was still not done working on me, and my journey was only beginning. Eighteen months into my recovery, I suffered a life-altering injury when I shattered my knee in four places. I was in and out of hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabs for months. I felt depression and darkness overcome me as I couldn’t figure out how I could possibly move on from this. It seemed as though God had abandoned me again. It wasn’t until one Sunday at church when someone gave me the name of Marbeth Carew, the Director of the Women’s Program at the Mission, and said they were hiring. The Lord showed me that he had an amazing purpose for me and opened all the doors for me to take on a position in ministry there. Since coming to the Mission in 2019, I have experienced so much growth in every aspect of my life. I have never felt like just another employee on a list. Sean and Marbeth have invested so much time and energy into my spiritual and emotional growth by encouraging me to seek Christian counseling, walking me through the Genesis Process, and pouring truth and wisdom into my life. They have been with me every step of the way, and I cannot even begin to describe how my relationship with my daughter McKenzie has transformed in the past four years. I was given the space and time to prioritize the restoration of our mother daughter relationship. The Mission has 100% made it possible for that to happen. We now see each other often, talk every single day, and the relationship that we have now feels as though we never lost those years due to my addiction. She now tells me that she looks up to me! Wow! I never thought I would hear her say that. I am so thankful to my leadership for giving me hard truths, lessons, and knowledge to navigate these new phases in my life. I have so much love for Sean, Marbeth, and the Mission. I truly believe that the Lord led me here in a time of deep darkness. I now work as the Development Coordinator at the Mission, overseeing fundraising and planning events. God has provided the means for me to have my own apartment and my own car, something that I never thought would be attainable for me. I could never have imagined this life that I am living now: six years free of addiction, full of hope, and having a true, genuine relationship with my daughter. I want to thank all of you who donate to the Mission to make stories like mine possible. I feel so grateful and blessed! Thank you!

Check out our Summer 2023 Newsletter