"I want to get off the drugs"
I spent a few hours at one of the local Indian reserves on Saturday afternoon. I went there to visit James who I hoped would be home. I knocked on the front door which had no doorknob and the door opened up. What I saw was filth and chaos. James was home and so was his 21 year old son.
James suggested we talk outside and we did. He shared how embarrassed he was at the condition of his home. I know that it reflects many other homes on the reserve as well. Hopeless and chaotic.
As we were talking his son came out of the house. He was so thin, his pants were tied off with a string and barley stayed on his body. He was asking for a smoke or a joint of which I had neither. As he stood before me I asked him this question, "What are your goals in life, what do you want to be?" He looked back at me and said, "I want to get off the drugs." Here he stood at 21 and his greatest desire is to get off drugs. I asked him how long he had used and he shared that he started as a young teen. He is in to all kinds of drugs and his arms show the needle marks from heroin and cocaine. He knows that he is caught in a trap.
His dad is now a Christian after many years of drug abuse. He shared that he feels much responsibility for his son as he introduced his son to this lifestyle. He smoked pot with his teenage son. He wishes he could take it all back but he cannot. He hopes that his son will see the changes he has made and be able to make the chnges in his life as well.
I asked James how many of the youth on the reserve are like his son, and he said "I think all of them." Isn't that sad. I hope that through our witness and presence and through God's power those numbers change.
James suggested we talk outside and we did. He shared how embarrassed he was at the condition of his home. I know that it reflects many other homes on the reserve as well. Hopeless and chaotic.
As we were talking his son came out of the house. He was so thin, his pants were tied off with a string and barley stayed on his body. He was asking for a smoke or a joint of which I had neither. As he stood before me I asked him this question, "What are your goals in life, what do you want to be?" He looked back at me and said, "I want to get off the drugs." Here he stood at 21 and his greatest desire is to get off drugs. I asked him how long he had used and he shared that he started as a young teen. He is in to all kinds of drugs and his arms show the needle marks from heroin and cocaine. He knows that he is caught in a trap.
His dad is now a Christian after many years of drug abuse. He shared that he feels much responsibility for his son as he introduced his son to this lifestyle. He smoked pot with his teenage son. He wishes he could take it all back but he cannot. He hopes that his son will see the changes he has made and be able to make the chnges in his life as well.
I asked James how many of the youth on the reserve are like his son, and he said "I think all of them." Isn't that sad. I hope that through our witness and presence and through God's power those numbers change.
posted by s.d.w. at 7:11 AM
4 Comments:
scott...
can i suggest that you mention harvest house ministries to this young man who want to get off the drugs... if he is serious, somehow get him to moncton... God is doing awesome things there... in the past 4 weeks or so, people from Grand Manan have been flooding there and giving their lives over to Christ... i heard a story of how one guy went there a couple of weeks ago showed up there from ontario and within an hour of being there, he gave his life over to the Lord... check it out...
www.hhoutreach.org
Scott, Please tell James that we are praying for him and his son. How are you doing? Any word on surgery? Think of you often. Bill and Suzette
Sad; but so true ... unfortunately so "common" ... more and more the hurt is so eveident; yet, many ministries "seem" to be ineffective at times (I guess that's spoken from a slightly jaded perspective though) ...
I think we stopped by that house when I was up there...glad to hear you're still heading up there.
God bless....
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