Steve's Profile
Location: , C28 Supporter since: 9/16/2011

I grew up in middle to upper class family where God was never mentioned. My stepfather owned a motorcycle dealership and sponsored motocross racing, where at the age of twelve, I began working, I began racing, and I began using drugs and alcohol. I spent the next thirty-eight years of my life as a so-called “functioning addict.” During that time, I lost my father to alcohol, my mother to a brain tumor, my uncle to suicide, my sister to heroin, my third wife to heroin, and several very close friends because of their addictions. All of this death around me, and my attitude was, “that will never happen to me,” and “I don’t care if I die anyway.”

I have only worked for five different employers, however through promotions, I have had about twenty different titles, the last being “Worldwide Market Research Analyst,” all were great jobs, all with great pay. I have owned three homes and countless motorcycles and cars I considered myself very successful. I have been married three times and I have two children, my fourteen-year-old son, Maui, with whom I have a great relationship, and my twenty-five-old daughter, Gina, whom I have not talked to in over fifteen years.

After my second divorce, I began using drugs and alcohol heavily, and it was not long before I was arrested for DUI, and not just one , but four within a period of a year and a half, but I felt “lucky” for doing only a year of jail time. When I was released, I fell in love with, and married a prostitute and heroin addict. A few months later, I received year for assault with a deadly weapon and terrorist’s threats. Then, things went well for a few of years, or so I thought. In reality, I was unemployed and addicted to heroin and alcohol. My wife and I began to give up on life we lived out of our camper-van until we sold it to support our heroin habit. We began staying at our friend’s houses until we were told to leave we were both in and out of jail for drinking, fighting, or something else, until we were finally living out on the streets. Then a couple of days before Christmas in 2006, we agreed that we could no longer deal with life on the streets, so we made a suicide pact to overdose on heroin together. However, God did not want us to succeed, for as soon as I finished injecting my dose, my wife panicked, called 911, and I was taken to the Mental Health Unit for 21 days for observation, and she was taken to jail.

Now I was alone on the streets, without my wife, with nowhere to go, and no one to turn to, it was not long before thoughts of suicide entered my mind again. Fortunately, someone had pointed me to the Elm Street Mission in Santa Cruz for a sermon and a meal. I did not know anything about God, nor did I really want to know, I was just there for the meal, but I began listening to the message of how and why Jesus Christ had died for my sins and the love He had for me. It gave me a feeling of comfort and hope, so I kept going back every night to hear more about Jesus.

Still living on the streets and still drinking, I was soon back in jail, where I found myself asking, “God, if You love me, can you please help me?” Two days later, I was released on the morning of my 50th birthday, only to be arrested again before day’s end. This time, I cried out from my jail cell, “God, I can’t stop doing this to myself, please help me, Lord.” The next morning I was released, later that evening I approached Pastor Ben Palm after his sermon and I told him that I really wanted help, that I truly need a change in my life. I asked him, “Do you know anyone who can help me with my addictions?” He replied, “Jesus Christ can help you, all you have to do is get to know Him” Then he pulled a card from his wallet, he asked, “Have you ever heard of Teen Challenge?” “No, I haven’t,” I told him and we talked about Teen Challenge and getting to know God over dinner, and he offered to drive me there whenever I was ready. I asked him, “Can you please take me now?”

Since I have turned my life over to Jesus Christ, I have a completely new outlook on life. I am learning more everyday on how to love, live, and give for Jesus Christ, through Him, His Word, and the Holy Spirit. Instead of living life my way, I am doing my best to live it in the way He is asking me to, and not just good deeds, but with actions that come from the heart. I am learning how to manage my feelings and emotions, which I have masked through forty years of drug and alcohol use. I am learning that it is not all about me, that it is about putting Him first and then others. Moreover, knowing the real meaning of forgiveness, grace, and mercy, I am learning how to stop holding meaningless resentments. My attitude, how I relate to and communicate with others, is changing from hatred to love. I also love the feeling of belonging to a loving and caring family. Through Jesus, I finally have a feeling joy and peace in my heart and I have a sense of

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.

Can you believe it? This person isn't on the C28 Street Team :)

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