“God gave me a second chance.”
Benjamin was raised with a strong foundation, surrounded by the love and encouragement of his family. But despite that beginning, he eventually found himself making choices that led him down a difficult path. Looking back, he can clearly see how God was at work, leading him toward a fresh start.
Benjamin says he had a good childhood. Raised by caring parents, he grew up in a loving home where church was a regular part of family life. He enjoyed school, stayed out of trouble and spent much of his time running track and playing football. But as he entered adulthood, he began making choices that slowly pulled him away from the values he had been raised with. “I ventured into the street life and I got caught up in that.” What started as poor decisions gradually became a pattern. He moved from job to job and place to place before eventually finding work as a kitchen supervisor at the local jail.
However, instead of using the opportunity to move forward, he became involved in selling drugs. Deep down, Benjamin knew where his choices were leading. He worried about disappointing the people who loved him most. Watching the pain his actions caused his family became increasingly difficult. “Every single day, I knew I was heading down the wrong path… I saw that it really hurt my parents. I knew I needed to straighten up.”
Eventually, the consequences caught up with him. Benjamin was arrested and spent nine months behind bars. Facing serious charges forced him to take a hard look at the direction of his life. What felt like the lowest point of his life became a turning point. “As soon as I went to jail, I knew I messed up, and I thought I was going away for a long time.”
After his release, he came to City Rescue Mission. Because of caring supporters like you, Benjamin found encouragement, structure and spiritual guidance through our LifeBuilders Program. He also discovered renewed purpose while working alongside the maintenance team and participating in daily activities that helped him stay focused on positive goals. Although Benjamin had grown up attending church, his faith had never been as important to him as it is today, and he knows his life could have turned out much differently. “I really wasn’t all the way into God the way I am now. I wish I had been because I wouldn’t have gone down that wrong path. God gave me a second chance.”
As he looks ahead, Benjamin is preparing for the next chapter with hope and gratitude for the new possibilities before him. He plans to attend welding school and continue building a stable future for himself and his children. The lessons Benjamin has learned since coming to the Mission will have an eternal impact:
“Life is precious and you have to get closer to God. We’re going to leave this earth one day. I want to make sure I make it to heaven.”