A Police Officer who finally had to Cry out for Help

   My name is David. For a long time I just kept coming by the Mission. I wasn’t homeless or anything. I just loved the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission. The people here accepted me, encouraged me, and even allowed me to help in the kitchen. I learned “volume” cooking and I enjoyed helping people.

  Then I got sick. I had two lung operations, two neck surgeries and two eye surgeries. Fortunately, I was able to stay at the Mission until 2005, after which I returned to Detroit where I’d been a police officer for 15 years. That’s when things turned bad. I was a loner. I just sat around and got high. But, like lots of folks, I thought I could lick my problem all by myself. How wrong I was.

  I couldn’t even kill myself

   I was so depressed I tried to end my life by eating a bottle of pills. But I couldn’t even kill myself. So I figured God wanted me to live. Later I called my son and he said, “Dad, you know what you need to do.” So I returned to Kalamazoo Gospel Mission. That’s when I thought: what will they think of me? Hey, I used to work there, and now I’m an addict. What I discovered was that they accepted me with open arms.  

  Today I feel great. My problem was that I got away from God. I finally had to admit I had a problem and I needed to deal with it honestly. Today, I’m backing the kitchen and God is transforming my life. I would like to say thank you to you who donate to the Mission. It’s your gifts that are helping me get my life back on track. Thank you for being so generous. Not only at Easter, but 365 days a year. For a person who needs help, this is the best place on earth.