TESTIMONY

"I came to the recovery home with nothing. I AM full of faith, purpose, and a new family in Christ."

From loneliness and alcoholism to a new life in Christ

ELICEO HERNADEZ'S TESTIMONY

Before I ever tried beer and wine, I was a kind and quiet person. When I came to this country, I started working in the fields, harvesting different crops, but over time I began to feel very lonely.

That loneliness was one of the reasons I turned to alcohol. Little by little, I became an irresponsible person. I stopped sending money to my family in Mexico, and before I knew it, alcohol had become part of my life.

I started drinking in an attempt to fill the emptiness and loneliness inside me, ignoring the serious consequences that would follow. My alcoholism landed me in the hospital several times. The truth was, I was already tired of living that way.

I couldn’t share what I was feeling with my friends because I thought that if I told them I wasn’t happy, that I was tired of living this way, and that I needed help, they would laugh at me.

This is a reality in many environments: instead of encouraging you to change for your own well-being and that of your family, some people invite you to keep living the same way, reject you, or mock you when you try to turn your life around.

But I decided I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I sought help and, thank God, I found it.

I was welcomed with open arms, despite the condition I was in when I arrived: broken by alcoholism, without God and without hope.

Today my life is different. Instead of spending my money on my own destruction, I can support my family. They no longer live with the worry of getting a call saying something bad had happened to me or that I had died because of alcohol.

I thank God for sending His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for sinners, of whom I consider myself the foremost.

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.”

1 Timothy 1:15

Eliseo Hernández