My name is Cody Ishmael. I am 24 years old and from the Jonesboro, Arkansas area.  I have 4 younger sisters and a 4-year-old son.  Growing up, I lived with my memaw because both of my parents suffered from addiction.  She always took me to church and made sure I read my Bible. I was very sheltered and hated the very thought of drugs and alcohol.  When I was a teenager, my dad came home from Federal prison and moved schools.  My addiction started off mainly because I was just trying to...

My name is Patrick Cook.  I am 40 years old and from St. Louis, Missouri.  I was raised by parents who did well but were alcoholics.  Growing up, I always felt different and had very few friends.  I also had a hard time fitting in anywhere because I was a very sick kid and couldn’t participate in what “normal kids” do which led to me feeling left out and very alone.  Growing up, I always said that I would never smoke, drink or do drugs and I didn’t until I went to college. That�...

My name is Russell Bishop, I am 54 years old from Highlandville, Missouri.  My father was a Baptist preacher and our lives were centered around God.  I was saved when I was 18. I attended a Bible college for 4 years and married my high school sweetheart, Sharon.  Our intention was to serve the Lord in whatever avenue He would lead us, which we did for a while. Going to church seemed to just become an obligation. Having a drink on the weekend was not uncommon, but at the time I could take...

My name is Clair Florence.  I am 58 years old.  I was born and raised on a farm in central Illinois.  I was raised in the church and received Jesus at the age of 9, but as time went on, I didn’t act as if I was saved. I have always had issues with self-esteem, shame, and guilt.  I began drinking in high school and by the time I was in college, I was experimenting with all kinds of drugs.  I got married in 1979 and a  few years later we had two wonderful children, a boy, and a girl. ...

My name is Terry Lynn Jackson.  I am 48 years old and was born on a farm in a small town in Illinois.  I was the youngest of 8 siblings, so I always got hand me downs and never had anything of my own that was new, so when I  was only 5 years old, I started stealing candy from the store.  This behavior grew and by the time I was 14, I was a  full- blown alcoholic and breaking into homes. I got in so much trouble by the time I was 17, I got arrested and sent to prison for 4 years.  In...

 My name is Amy Shook.  I’m 41 years old from Booneville, MS.  I could go into my testimony and share all of life’s disappointments, rejections and events that led me to where I am today, but I will fast forward past the broken home as a child, being messed with sexually as a young girl, feeling abandoned from split parents and failed marriages.  Those are real life issues that the enemy used to lie to me and tell me I would never amount to anything and deserved all of life’s...

      My name is Whitney Burnette.  I am 29 years old from Wynne,...

My name is Steven Kuykendall, and I am the oldest of 2 children. I was born 6 weeks prematurely and had pneumonia. My parents got divorced when I was
seven, they both quickly remarried. My mother’s husband was abusive to me from the first time I met him, this led to me hating him. I spent weekends back
and forth between my grandparents and my mother’s. As a young child, I wanted to be an MLB player, when I was a freshman in high school, I tried out, and
was on the team with...

Hello I am Kimberly Townsend (Kimmy). I am 54 years old and was born in St. Louis, Missouri. I am a proud mom of 2 very special men, Mathew Alan Trudell age 36 years old and his oldest brother(who is now with the Lord) Mack Andrew Trudell Jr.(1985-2004). Alcoholism and addiction have been a big part of my life since birth. My parents were both alcoholics and although I was never physically abused by either of them, my childhood consisted of watching them constantly verbally and physically...

My name is Bradley D. Boyer.  I am 48 years old and was born in St. Louis, MO where I stayed until I was 5 years old and we moved to Bakersfield, CA.  I pray that the Lord gets the glory in this testimony and that it reaches and touches the person it is intended to.  When my family moved to California, it was all a crazy lifestyle.  My father let me drink and smoke pot with him.  One day I mentioned that to his boss and I began to get beat by my father.  My dad also beat my mother and...

My name is Casey Barker. I’m 45 years old from Jonesboro, Arkansas. I am an only child that grew up in a home where my parents loved me and provided for me. I went to church, I was active in school, sports, fishing and hunting, and I worked with my dad. My dad is a good man, but at times he would speak harshly to me and it affected my self esteem negatively. At the age of 12 my best friend was killed in an accident. I began trying to numb my pain with alcohol, sex, and drugs. I tried...

My name is Trey Hollins.  I’m 24 years old rom Poplar Bluff, Missouri.  I had a good childhood.  I was raised by a single parent, my mom.  My dad came around from time to time, but he had 8 other kids and I always felt like he just didn’t have time for me, his oldest son.  I started working when I was 16 years old.  I complained about it until one day my mom told me that there was a time that she had to pick up trash just to provide for me and my sister.  Hearing that changed my...

My name is Tonya Leigott.  I am 29 years old, from Trumann, Arkansas.  I came from a very dysfunctional home.  When I was younger, my parents were in a mess, along with my Aunt and Uncle, it was just kind of a family thing…When I was about 8 years old; my parents let my grandparents adopt me.  My grandparents tried to give me everything that my parents couldn’t, which in turn made me spoiled and emotionally unbalanced.  My best friend died leaving my 18th birthday party after a night...

My name is Claude Essary, and I was born on July 27, 1977, in Bartow, FL. My mother was mentally ill, and my father was an alcoholic and a gambler, this made for a rough childhood. As I grew up, I had a lot of hate and anger from my upbringing that affected every part of my life. I just wanted to love people so much, because I didn’t want anyone to feel the way I felt inside. In November of last year, I was in jail for the fifteenth time; I was at a point in my life that I had never seen...

My name is Ryan Burhans. I am 40 years old. I was born in Wisconsin. When I was around fifteen my parents got divorced and I was left alone
a lot and I felt rejected. That’s when my drinking started. I moved out when I was sixteen and had my first child. The drinking got worse because
it numbed the pain of rejection that I felt. I have had many jobs and two marriages that ended due to my drinking. All these years of drinking, I
only had one accident. I know it was because...

My name is Marissa Lesley.  I am 43 years old from Dexter, Missouri.  I have been on and off drugs since I was 12 years old.  I never really      felt like I fit in anywhere and I’ve always struggled with low self-esteem issues.  I came from a good family.  My parents divorced when I was      young, but they were both good and loving parents.  Neither one of my parents ever had addiction problems. I started hanging out with the      wrong crowd in school and that was my...

My name is Mike Shepherd, I am 60 years old from St. Louis, MO. In grade school I absolutely knew what I wanted to do with my life and that was to play soccer.  I loved it and was good at it.  When I got into high school, I got hurt playing football and my soccer dream was gone.  This threw me for a loop, and I had trouble dealing with it emotionally.  I was resentful toward the other players, not a member of the party crowd, shy with the girls and I felt like I did not fit in anywhere....

My name is Matthew Kittrell. I am 28 years old from Marston, Missouri. I lived in an abusive household until I was nine. My uncle
would beat on me, my mom and my sister every day. He even made me watch as he beat my father to death. My mom took me
and my sister and we got out and got our own house. My mom began selling my sister to support her drug habit, so only a year
later, we were put in foster care. By the age of 10, I was drinking, smoking pot and running the streets. I...

My name is Kerry Maurer.  I am 41 years old and was raised in South St. Louis, MO.  My mother was only 16 when she had me and my father abused her.  They partied and they fought all the time.  They separated when I was 5 years old.  When they separated, my mom drugs me from boyfriend to boyfriend and husband to husband.  When it didn’t work out, we would go back to live with relatives.  I changed schools more times than I could count and lacked the stability that I needed growing up....

My name is Courtney Freer. I am 29 years old from Piggott, Arkansas. Growing up, I had a good childhood with 2 siblings, and we were raised by a single mother. My mom tried to make sure that we always had everything we needed. I was raised up going to church, but I just never developed that personal relationship with Jesus that I needed. I started smoking pot in the 6th grade and continued until I was 17 years old. I
used to dream about going to college and making something of my life...

My name is Nichole Haywood.  I was born in Kennett, Missouri and at the age of 3, my mother moved me and my older brother to Ohio.  This move took me away from my father, but I was blessed with a loving stepdad that took me in like his own.  He was the father I needed in my life.  My brother was older than me and was always getting into trouble.  I always felt like my mother loved him more than she did me.  He began raping me when we moved to Ohio.  This went on until I was 8 years old...

My name is Earl Gyger and I’m 42 years old from Forsyth, MO. My childhood was great, but at the age of 14, I was introduced to “crank”, which is                             now known as crystal methamphetamine. That choice I made back then led to an emotional roller coaster of bad relationships and a very dark and                            ugly lifestyle. I stopped using meth for a short time and got married. She had a 2-year-old daughter and...

my name is Felisha Thompson. I am 34 years old and from Lagrange, Georgia. I am the youngest of four kids and
had to grow up quickly. My dad was in prison for drugs, so my mom was a single parent, and my brother helped to
raise us. I started smoking weed at twelve years old and I was using meth by time I was sixteen. I have battled with
addiction most of my life, which led to me going to prison when I was 29 for meth. I was released and two days later
went right back to that...

My name is Sara Pappas, and I am 34 years old. I was born in Moscow, Russia. When I was 3 years old me and my younger brother were adopted by a family in New Jersey. Growing up, I couldn’t see how God had saved me and how much of a blessing my new family was. I didn’t understand how to trust anyone or accept love from my family. I was stuck in a “take care of myself” mentality, I all knew was “survive”. I was introduced to alcohol at the age of 16 and it became my escape. I left...

My name is Greg Prater. I am 62 years old, from Jonesboro, AR. I can’t tell you the age when I took my first drink, I just did it because that’s what I saw my
father do. Since I was 16 years old, I have been an alcoholic, and it has caused one problem after another. By the time I called one of the other mission
teens centers in 2009, I was completely broken and miserable. I lost my job, my marriage of 13 years, and was about to lose my house. I didn’t see a future
ahead of me....

My name is Morgan Schmidt.  I’m 25 years old and I was born in Tupelo, MS.  I have a beautiful, 4 year old little girl named  Khloe Beth.  I grew up in a split home due to divorce.  I lived with my mom, but she had a problem and seemed to choose her addiction over being a other most of  the  time.  My  dad  wanted  the  best  for  me and felt  like  he   could  be a better parent so they ended up  fighting over me.  I  can remember how DHS would come to check on me...

My name is Trace Cohn.  I’m 30 years old and grew up in Jonesboro, Arkansas.  I grew up in church and had a great family and wanted for nothing.  I got introduced to drugs and alcohol and my childhood innocence quickly turned to despair.  Everything that could go wrong did.  I ended up getting kicked out of school in the 8th grade and had to go to jail because of marijuana. You would have thought that jail would have scared me enough to straighten up, but it didn’t.  When I got out,...

Hello, my name is Derrick Mitchell.  I’m 39 years old from Dexter, Missouri.  I was raised by my mother, Joan.  She worked most of the time to provide me and my sisters with everything we needed and with the things we wanted.  I was a really busy kid and I remember thinking that you needed money to get anywhere in life.  My grandma used to take me to church, but the only thing I  really remember is the play where the Roman soldiers beat up Jesus.  I was never taught to rely on...

My name is Kenna Chenoa Cashion. I am…a child of God. I could tell you about how I was married with kids or how I was teased as a kid, how my family was poor and broken or even how I was abused but all of these things are so small but necessary parts of my life. See I am now a 34-year-old divorced mother of 3 whom after being married and without a husband and home of my own, struggling to become a single parent lost my way, myself, my children and my life. No, I didn’t die physically but...

My name is Michelle Weeks. I am 37 years old and from Hayti, MO. I was blessed with a Christian grandma who took me to church and taught me right from wrong. My mother, however, was the one who introduced me to drugs when I was only 13 years old. As I got older, I continued down the wrong path. I got married when I was at 19 to a man who was very verbally, mentally, and physically abusive. I left him and he stalked me and tried to kill me. This dove me deeper into addiction. In 2015, I was...

My name is Michael Luttrell. I am a child of God...31 years old from Kennett, Missouri. My father was very abusive, so my mother took us and got away from him. This left me feeling angry and rejected. When I was 10 years old, my family owned a liquor store. I watched everyone drink and thought it looked like fun. I took my first drink at 13 years old, and I was instantly hooked. I watched my family do drugs and again, wanted to try to fit it. It started with marijuana and ended with meth,...

My name is Katelyn Walker. I am 22 years old. I am from Belden, Mississippi. I had a little bit of a rough start growing up. From the time I was born I was exposed to drugs. My biological mother was an addict and so was all of her immediate family.  The earliest memory that I have of my mom is when the police had busted my mom and her, at the time husband, for cooking meth in mine and my little sisters’ room. That is also when we were taken away from her, from there we went into the foster...

Garrison Bowen, I am 27 years old and from Hinesville, GA. I realized I needed to change my way of living when I just lost my job and had no money because of all the drugs and alcohol. It was consuming my life. Over the past 5 years, I have been in and out of Christian programs and lost many jobs due to my anger or other actions. After the last program, I thought I had it all figured out. However, I was still drinking, smoking weed and trying to help my brother who was also in a mess. Living...

My name is Jason Motter.  I am 46 years old and I am from Millville, New Jersey.  I had a pretty normal childhood.  I am the middle child of divorced parents and we were all raised by my father.  I played a lot of sports growing up like baseball and football.  When I was 13, I got into a fight at school and got hurt.  I was prescribed painkillers and that opened a door that would take a very long time to close.  I took pain medication and chased that high for years until one day in...

My name is Marenda Bennett. I am 47 years old, from Gideon, MO. I had a drug/alcohol problem for approximately 25 years; however, I had been mostly sober since 2017 with a few relapses here and there, that is not what brought me to Freedom House. What brought me to Freedom House was a lifetime of darkness, not only with drugs and alcohol, but also with promiscuity, demonic worship, and witchcraft that completely consumed me. I had countless mental and emotional issues, not to mention...

My  name  is  James McNulty.  I  was born and raised in Longmont, Colorado until I was 17 years old and then I moved to Florida.  I started using drugs when  I  was 13, but  I managed to get really good grades and I graduated high school when I was 17.  I went to college, but I didn’t finish and get a degree.  I was “managing” my drug use until I was 22 and then I really went off the deep end or jumped over the cliff, whichever way you want to say it,  I  was a  mess. ...

My name is Joseph Owens.  I’m 27 years old.  I was a drug addict most of my life.  I was born in Paragould, Arkansas.  I can remember times before I tried meth, but I never remember a time when it wasn’t in my life.  My parents were both addicts and dealers.  In the 2nd grade I woke up early one morning and decided to try coffee, but I didn’t know it had been made with filters from cooking dope.  My dad decided to keep me home from school that day.  I have always thought drugs...

Hello, I’m Misty Davidson. I’m 46 years old and from Moberly, Missouri. I grew up in a Christian home-Baptist. I was saved at the age of 9 but it seemed like at an early age, fear, torment, and anxiety set in and I doubted my salvation and my self-worth. I grew up in a very prideful and strifeful home. My Christian roots
go deep on my dad’s side. A lot of pastors and deacons of the church, but my momma’s side of the family wanted nothing to do with the Lord. A lot of...

My name is Tanner McCormick.  I’m 22 years old from Kennett, Missouri.  I am the oldest of 3 siblings.  My mother was addicted to pain pills, but she tried the best she could.  She blacked out a lot, so I basically raised my younger brother and sister until I was 11 years old. My mother got a boyfriend and I became very bitter.  When I was 13, I went to live with my father who I had only met once before in my life.  This turned out to be a bad decision.  I started drinking and...

My name is Van Blain McCoy. I am 38 years old and the youngest of 3 boys. I’m from the small town of Corinth, MS. I grew up like most country kids, going to school during the week, working with my grandpa after school, and church with grandma on Sundays. I was always driven by money, no matter where I was or what I was doing money was always at the forefront of my mind. After I graduated, I moved to Kansas to work then came back and started a family. I went to church but, never had a...

My name is Eric Wood.  I am 26 years old from Dexter, Missouri.  I’ve always had the feeling that I was going to do something “big” in this life, even though I grew up feeling rejected by my father who was very abusive and controlling because he was addicted to pain medication.  I always felt like he treated me different than he treated my 2 older brothers.  I never felt loved.  My father overdosed and we found him dead in our dining room when I was 15 years old.  At the time, I...

My name is Krista Bates-Duncan. I am 29 years old and live in Malden, Missouri. As I was growing up I went through many traumatic events that led                         up to my addiction. I lived in fear most of my life and did not have a clue as to what real love felt like. I didn’t understand what the word “love” even                              meant or what love looked like. As a child I was burned by boiling water at the age of three,...

   My name is Brian Nix.  I am 45 years old and was raised in Birmingham,...

My name is Dezirae Starcher.  I’m 27 years old, I’m from Akron, OH.  I...

My name is Nina Lee Beal.  I’m 36 years old.  I am a proud mother of one son, Caden.  My life has been a tough one to live.  My family was torn apart at the age of 14 when I lost my mother who had been sick most of my childhood.  Her death triggered a downward spiral that began with partying on the weekends and escalated into being a full blown meth addict.  Along with the drugs came a dependency on  people and  relationships trying to fill  a void in my life that I now know, can...

My name is Cameron Collins. I’m 28 years old and I was born and raised in Mount Ida, AR. I have a brother that’s 2 years older than me and                            parents that got divorced when I was 4. I really don’t have many memories of them together. Both of my parents got remarried and my brother and I                          stayed with our aunt and uncle as well as my grandmother. I was raised in church until I was about 14. At the age of 14 I...

       My name is Treyton Hartle.  I am 22 years old from Bloomfield, MO and this is how Jesus turned my life around.  On April 1st, 1998 I was born into a great family with loving parents who knew the Lord.  Following that was a life in church that was never appreciated like it should have been.  At 12 years old I gave my life to the Christ at church camp…then came high school.  The work was easy.  I wasn’t good enough to play college sports, and I found out I loved having...

My name is Steven Lee Martin.  I was born in 1981 in St. Louis, MO. I spent my childhood around severe alcoholics.  My parents would argue a lot.  When they were at work, my brother and I spent time with my grandparents.  They would drink and argue a lot.  I can remember all the way back to 5 years old.  My grandpa was a security guard.  He would come home from work every day with a case of beer and a bottle of alcohol and get drunk and then get mean.  I guess I just assumed that was...

My name is Courtney Shipley. I am 28 years old. I was born in Southern California to loving parents and grew up in church. Since I grew up in a good home and never struggled with drugs, I really didn’t think I had a testimony for a long time. Yes, my life felt lonely and empty, but I had no idea why.  I was married to my high school sweetheart, we owned a home, we both drove brand new cars, and we both had respectable jobs that paid well.  On the outside, my life lacked nothing. Yet, week...

Hi, I’m Shane Schiller. I was born in 1975, and I am from Missouri. When I was born, my dad left. This was the source
of a lot of pain in my life. I turned to drugs and alcohol at an early age to numb the pain I felt. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Be
sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
I wasn’t sober or vigilant for many years. I have been on psych meds for as long as I can remember. I developed a