Searching For Peace: JOSE'S STORY

Your support and prayers gave Jose what he had been searching for his whole life: Peace.

Looking back, Jose remembers suffering from depression for most of his 60 years, even as a child. “I’m still working out where this stems from.” “I had a great childhood, which makes it more difficult to find out why.” Even a loving family couldn’t protect Jose from the “extreme loneliness” that eventually led to a drinking problem.

“The drinking made me feel better about my social awkwardness,” he says. But in the end, alcohol only made the loneliness more intense and led to a cycle of self-medication that spiraled into suicidal thoughts and a series of hospital stays.

Released from the hospital last August, Jose couldn’t return to the home he had shared with his girlfriend—unable to cope with his drinking, she had asked him to move out. That’s when he as referred to the Springfield Rescue Mission.

“What I always needed”

“I felt welcomed!” he says of his arrival. Working through the Men’s New Life Program, Jose found the one medicine that could lift his depression without leaving him deeper in despair: God. “I’m getting to know my Creator,” he tells us. “I’m reading the Bible and applying it to my daily life. The approach here is what I always needed.” Your support and prayers gave Jose what he had been searching for his whole life: Peace. “I had experienced bits of peace, but not for this

length of time.” Today, Jose is happy to share his new-found peace with his family, including his three grown children and three grandchildren. And he has something to share with you: “Thank you from the bottom of my heart! You don’t realize how many you are helping!”