For women who are ready to
choose a new path in life, a life lived for Christ, a
5-phase program is ready to help them. The recovery
program is for women who have made unwise decision, leading
life down rough paths. When they are ready, Panama
City Rescue Mission provides a supportive environment
where students grow in integrity, responsibility, and
commitment.
Bethel Village house includes
dorms for 16 ladies. There are also 5 beds in the "Crossroads"
dorms for women
in transition (last phase of the recovery program) and a
dorm for live-in 1 house supervisor. The
program is task-oriented, rather than time-oriented.
So each lady will complete the program at different paces,
often though, it will take nearly a year.
Plans are being made to build
onto the campus. We have just been awarded a
$275,000 grant to build a two-story home onto the campus,
total funds raised has been $400,000. The new building will house our recovery
program students. We will also build a new
administrative office building for Bethel Village and a family transitional
housing unit.
This expansion will increase our capacity
and allow us to move the women and family emergency shelter
from the main Mission campus downtown to Bethel Village.
We will hold a ground breaking ceremony TBA. For more information, contact
Rev. Billy
Fox at 769-0783.
April
came to the Rescue
Mission
about a year ago just being released from county jail;
she was lost and didn’t really know what she was going
to do.She filled out an application for
Bethel
Village
and was then accepted.
“For
I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the
Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a
future and a hope.”
Jeremiah
29:11 (NKJV)
This
verse is one that she will remember always because it is
just one of the many promises that the Lord has already
fulfilled in her life so far.She is now getting to see her daughter, age 9,
and is reconciled with her son, age 17, and family.The Lord has only just begun to bless her!April is doing an internship in the Day Center as
the Client Advocate Assistant, but will be hired as the
Client Advocate June 1. In this position she has
the chance
to reach out to those who come to the Mission for help.
Theresa first came
to the Rescue Mission and completed the addiction recovery
program at Bethel Village in 2008. She was battling an
addiction to cocaine and alcohol. Though she graduated and felt
her program was complete, she went back home to Tallahassee to
work and live in the same environment that she was in before.
It wasn't long
before she began abusing drugs and alcohol again.
But because she
had stayed in touch with the friends she made at Bethel Village
the first time, it was easier for her to make a decision to come
back and try the program again.
"You can talk
the talk, but can you walk the walk?" she asked while
giving her testimony. She emphasized how, in order to truly
change, sometimes a person needs to change their places, people,
and things...even though it may mean starting all over again in
a new place.
Theresa now sees a
career change for herself and is back in school to become a
nurse.
When Jamie came to Bethel
in April 2009, she was depressed and hopeless.
Though
she held many professional jobs, had her own place and had a
promising future, the lure of drugs was too much for Jamie. She
began using crack-cocaine and ended up homeless.
Custody
had been taken away from her and she had not seen her son
in four years. She thought she was beyond hope.
But
since going through the discipleship program at Bethel Village,
Jamie says, “My hope has been returned thanks to God and
Bethel Village. My
life will forever be better for being in this program.”
Jamie
has been reunited with her son, just as God promised.
She now has visitation with her 7-year old son, and though he
has been diagnosed with autism, her family sees signs of
improvement. Jamie attributes that to God's blessings and
promises of restoration. She is so happy to be a part of his
life again.
Jamie
has just been hired at a local company and has a permanent place
to live. “Thank you Bethel and the
Panama City Rescue Mission for giving me a chance at
happiness!”
LaDonna
spoke such encouraging and uplifting words this morning as she
accepted her certificate of completion of the Power to Choose
program.First she
wanted to make sure to give all the glory to God!
She said “The Lord says we
are set free by the blood of the Lamb and by the words of our
testimony.So I
claim that in Jesus’ name I am now set free indeed.”
Ladonna shared how while she was homeless she would sleep behind
a laundry facility where she could get a little warmth at night.
Her family had enough of trying to help her, when she would keep
going back to the same old ways of using alcohol.
"I know they needed to
let me get to my bottom, so that God could lift me up."
She quoted many scriptures
from the Living Word of God. One of LaDonna’s favorite
scriptures, which she quoted is in the book of Philippians:
“Brothers I do not
consider myself to have taken hold of it.; but one thing I do:
forgetting what is
behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my
goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call I Christ
Jesus.” Philippians 3;13-14
Ladonna is starting an
internship where she will help other homeless men and women in
the Mission's DayCenter as the Client Advocate Assistant so she
can save up money to move to her own place. She is a treasure to
the clients at the Rescue Mission, as well as the staff, and we
look forward to watching her grow even more.
Diane was very
glad to come to Bethel Village and thankful to all those who
helped her along the way.
Giving all the
praise and glory to God the head of our lives she felt very
blessed. When Diane came to Bethel she was very lost and now she
has found her way back to Christ.
She quoted a
favorite scripture of hers from the book of Ecclesiastes
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for
there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave
where you are going.” Eccl 9:10.
Diane did very
well while she was here.She
was praised for her leadership abilities, steadfastness of
spirit, and tireless work ethic.She was a blessing to have around and we wish her the
best!
Diane will soon
be married to her long-time boyfriend!
Maka,
37, said her parents divorced when she was about 15 years
old. With very little supervision as a teenager, she began
to live life as she pleased. That meant using "meth,"
and it became a battle she would fight for 20 years.
She
said she moved out and lived with friends or boyfriends, never
going back home or speaking with her mother during all that
time.
"I
stayed clean for 4 years starting when I was pregnant with my
first-born son, because I knew I needed to do it for him,"
she said. But when her husband got out or prison she
started using for 8 more years.
"I
had 11 arrests in 2 years, so I spent 6 months in prison for
what could have been a misdemeanor, but that turned out to be
the best thing that ever happened to me."
She
said she got work in the prison chapel, started growing close to
God, and began to write to her mother.
"When
it was time for me to get out, I knew I needed to go somewhere
else besides back to Texas."
Her
mother had moved to Jacksonville, Fla, and did some research on
recovery programs in North Florida. She found Bethel Village and
Maka decided to try the program offered there.
"Once
I learned the value God placed on my life, and all the good he
would provide for me, I couldn't accept the life I had for
myself. I couldn't imagine sitting around and feeling depressed
again, but I never thought I would stay as long as I have."
The
more she kept learning, the more she wanted to stay. And now she
is the house supervisor of Bethel Village. She talks to
her sons, ages 13 and 7, at least twice a week. And she would
like to get them back, but knows she needs more time sober and
living on her own before she disrupts their lives. She wants to
go to school and now thinks she finally has the opportunity,
since her job requires nighttime hours.
"My
mom says at age 62, I've introduced her to God," and Maka
hopes to be that kind of positive influence on everyone she
meets from now on.
Shaunda, current
student at Bethel Village, was blessed with a a
healthy baby boy, born Oct 27 at 1 pm!
Theresa, another student at Bethel Village, was secretly
painting and decorating the small room that would become home to
newborn Ayden Hunter and proud mama.
"Don't let
her in, she's so nosey!" Theresa said.
Just that week,
members of the Proverbs 31 Guild had thrown Shaunda a wonderful
baby shower, and it was a SHOWER of gifts for the pair!
Shaunda gave her
testimony, stating that she grew up knowing Christ and the right
way to live, but rebellion led her to a life of drugs and
eventually being incarcerated.
Shaunda is newly
married and she added that she is grateful for the opportunity
to learn how to be the wife and mother she needs to be.
"I can't
thank the people here at the Rescue Mission enough for the love
they have shown me, it's awesome!"
