Here is a beautiful poem written by one of our clients, Brooks, entitled:

Testimony from a successfully recovered abuser is a very motivating tool. Below are some very special people who have the strength to share their stories with you.

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Q: Can you give me an idea of what your problems were when you first came to Agape?

A: Well, I was strung out on crack cocaine, and it had me down in the dumps. I couldn’t function in society. I was a dressed up garbage can.

Q: Ok; do you remember any one particular thing or maybe a couple of things that [turned you around], something somebody said to you or something you went through.?

A: Something I went through and something somebody said. Well, first of all when I was out there, I had a gun pointed at my head cause I owed the dope man.

Q: Did you point the gun at your head or did somebody else?

A: He pointed it at my head. Told me he’d kill me if I didn’t pay him the money. And some kinda way I talked myself out of it.

Q: But that’s what made you decide to come here?

A: That’s what made me decide to seek help and go into a program and try to get away from that lifestyle. Plus, I heard something Lawrence said. Lawrence said, “If nothing changes, nothing changes.”

Q: Tell me about the program itself; what did you have to do when you came here? Tell me some of the things you changed about yourself when you got into the program.

A: Well, I changed my total appearance for one thing. I used to wouldn’t wear socks, I used to wear wrinkled up pants and a wrinkled up shirt. I wouldn’t iron my clothes, wouldn’t take a bath, I changed that about me. Now my appearance is fair, livable, you know what I mean?

Q: So, where are you now? What kinds of things are you doing now?

A: Well, I’m still making my meetings. Like I said, I'm still taking suggestions, taking advice. I learning how to talk to people on a day to day basis without an attitude. And, I’ve basically just been to the textbook of Alchoholics Anonymous, 12 and 12, and the Big Book; that’s where I am now.

Q: What would you want to say to anyone who looks at your clip and might decide to come here? What would you tell them?

A: Well, my suggestion is if you’re out there and you know you’re strung out on drugs or alcohol, you need to seek help from somewhere, if you want help. Now, ain’t nobody gonna hold your hand or drag you and make you come and say, ‘Hey I need help.” You got to want help. Now, I wanted help, nobody drug me in here. I sought help, and I didn’t stop until I found it. Now if you want help, you can change your life and Agape is a good place to start. It’s just as good a place as any. If you don’t want to come to Agape, I suggest you check into some kind of program somewhere.

Q: Please tell us about yourself and your history with drugs and alcohol.

A: I’m pretty proud of myself, I’ve been sober for three years. This place [Agape] helped me out a lot. I was in detox, and they came and found me and boy that was the best night I’ve ever spent in my life.

I listen; a lot of folks don’t listen, but I work hard at this everyday. A lot of folks go to meetings and read a prayer everyday; not me, I read a Step everyday. Right now, I’m on Step 4, then I’ll go on to Step 5. I do each one for about a week. This was the best nine months I’ve spent in my life.
I liked alcohol a lot and it was ruining my life. I came here and I just listened. I’m a very quiet man, but I listened and it stuck with me. Right now, I’m living by myself. I have a phone in my house and I make two phone calls a week, one to my sponsor and the other to my mama and daddy. I like that a lot.

My family is who put me here. Here I am almost 50 years old, and I thank my family for that. I swore I would never go into a program, but I woke up one day and they told me I was going to come here. I was embarrasing to them, and it’s hard to say that you’re embarrassing to your family, but I was because I liked alcohol a lot.

Q: Was there any particular event that happened that made them make the decision to get you some help?

A: I wrecked my daddy’s truck, but I don’t remember it. They told me about it and that I did a lot of stuff, but I don’t remember any of it. If you had told me I was doing something, I was probably doing it.

Q: If there was something you could tell people who might see this video clip, what would you say?

A: Quit alcohol. I will take a hold of your life like it did mine. Boy, I quit it, and I just feel better. I loved to work, but now I can’t and that really bothers me.

Q: Please give us an idea of your previous problem with drugs and alcohol.

A: I came into Agape Recovery Residence on January 5, 2004. My life had become a slave to alcohol and drug addiction, and I didn’t really know any other life and found escape through them. Through this program and through the 12 steps, I was able to learn how to live life on life’s terms. It’s through the love and understanding of Rev. Bryant, who operates this program, that he was able to help me through some situations in life that I could not do on my own. He taught me a new way to live and the program has taught me to live life on life’s terms.

Today I’m able to be a productive member of society, I maintain a job, I pay all my bills, and I’m really enjoying life and living without drugs and alcohol. I’m living happy, joyous, and free.

Q: Can you tell us what changes you had to make in your life as a result of entering Agape?

A: When I first came, I didn’t have a job. I was unemployable. I had been released from jail. I had received a jail sentence of 15 [years] to do 2. The 2 years was suspended upon the completion of the program here at Agape. When I first came into the program, there were things that I didn’t know if I could hang in there with. But, though each and every day and seeing the other guys here and how sobriety has helped them in their daily lives, I figured there was something here that I needed in my life; I no longer needed to live like I had been living because I just didn’t know how to live. I wasn’t living, I was killing myself.

Q: Was there any particular event that made you decide to get help?

A: With my drug and alcohol problem, I had gotten to the further stages of addiction where I started having blackouts and waking up in places that I didn’t know where I was. The night that I got arrested, I was behind the wheel of my automobile doing 145mph and I didn’t know how I got where I was. I got scared and realized that I was no only being selfish and self-centered, I was not only causing myself harm, but could also kill another human being.