Blog

We love success stories at The Christian Outreach Center, but every success story has a rough beginning. When we first meet our clients, they are at or near square one. Let me tell you about one place where we meet them for the first time.

Every Tuesday night, we have an addiction recovery group that meets at The Alliance House, which is an area halfway house. I try to visit at least once a month to establish a relationship with the residents, because we see our organization as the next step after their time there is complete.

I once met a woman who lost her children because of drugs. She was quiet and shy, and I didn’t get to know the depths of her rough background until a bit later. Once she left Alliance House, she entered our Life Transformation program.

She got her kids back. She took our job training program and has been steadily working. She recently moved to a nice community in the Baton Rouge area, and life is good. Her desire is to help others just like her.

I met another woman who spent time in the program at Alliance House and came to work for one of our thrift stores, The Purple Cow. She spent some time with us and left us for an even better job with opportunities for advancement. She’s on her way.

So, when I drop by for my monthly visit at The Alliance House, I tell people fresh out of detox who have lost everything, who feel hopeless and helpless, that God has a plan for them. I tell them that where they’re sitting is where I’ve met many people whose lives are back on track.

I tell them that God can and will do amazing things in a short amount of time, if they will commit themselves to the process. I tell them that they won’t even recognize themselves in six months to a year from now.

My prayer for each of the people I meet is that they will become the next success story, a success story that will encourage and give hope to the next group of people that follows them.

Rev. Dr. Brian Sleeth, Executive Director