- Drugs
- Faith
Hello, my name is Joseph, but everyone calls me Joe. I was born and raised in the South. From the ages of 13 to 20, I was involved in the streets as a DJ and break-dancer and was in gangs, selling drugs and operating drug spots for certain underworld people. At the age of 20, my daughter was about to be born. Since her mother and I were addicts, I had to do something to give my daughter a better chance at life. I joined the Army National Guard. I was based in the South and fell in love with the lifestyle down there. As soon as I was done with my service, I moved my daughter and myself to the South. I was still on drugs, but I thought I was just a social user. It wasn’t until I lost everything, two wives and several very good girlfriends, that I realized I had a problem.
On September 6, 2009, I was invited and went to my ex-wife’s church. I was reborn in the name of Jesus Christ, and I started attending support group meetings. At the meetings they kept telling me that I could not speak about Jesus, so I found a faith-based recovery program. This program shut down because of very low attendance. One of the goals given to me was to start an outreach faith-based program for those with any addiction, not just drugs and alcohol, which would keep them from having a personal relationship with God and having Jesus in their everyday life. I still attend faith-based recovery meetings, but I mostly do so online.
All praise goes to God that I am saved and a little over four and a half years clean as well as saved!