Family Member:
So often when we are sharing the story of Drug Alternative Program, we focus on the clients who come to ask for assistance. And most of the stories are from young people we have never met.
However, this month, we want to tell you about a client named London whose life story is one of the major reasons our hearts are so intensely focused on the work of Drug Alternative Program at our headquarters in Grand Terrace. What’s more, London’s experience hopefully explains to you why, over 30 years after opening DAP, we were impressed by God to expand the ministry to the state of Alabama as well.
London is just one of the hundreds of men who became addicted to drugs. However, he wasn’t part of the group of unknown young men. We knew him well for he is our son.
While Christian school was beneficial, it didn’t prevent London from the temptations which hit our children on all sides. London used marijuana behind our backs for five years. And then he secretly began to dabble in other drugs.We sent him to church school and thought, mistakenly, that a Christian education would save him from worldly friends and amusements.
To make a long story short, his grades began to slide to the point that he ended up in a continuation school where he finally received a high school diploma.
Once through his special education, God was thankfully able to use the witness of some of London’s church school friends who encouraged him to attend Oakwood University with them.
After one year at Oakwood in Huntsville AL, London graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta and also Walla Walla University in Washington state.
But this isn’t the end of London’s story. Today he’s a husband and father, minister, teacher and graphic designer. His passion is to help rescue young people from going down the road that he traveled.
What’s more, our family has a first-hand understanding of how it feels to have your child become addicted to drugs.
When ministers, church members, parents, grandparents, teachers, and concerned friends asked us to assist them in helping their loved ones, we know what pain they are experiencing. And we know the burden they carry on their heart.
Please remember that each month when you send a gift in support of all the young people who seek help at DAP, you are not only making it possible for the chains of addiction to be removed but you are also lifting the burden from a parent or family member who needs their child to find the path God has for their life.
No matter the size of the gift you send, we can tell you for certain, that God will use your support financially, as well as your prayers to help set the feet of another “London” on a pathway to heaven.
Your praying family members,
P.S. “Every day as I touch the lives of young people, I thank God for the gift He gave me and I know there is some young person who would thank you as much for stepping forward to help them too.” London
