Thanks to your support, Matthew has a better chance of providing a godly example to his children.

Looking back at his life and forward to the legacy he wants to leave his children, Matthew knows that the most important thing he can do is save his kids from repeating the mistakes he made. He knows first-hand how much bad decisions can cost you.

Just a few years ago, Matthew was a well-paid heavy equipment operator at a steel mill. He owned a home, had financial security and looked forward to an early retirement. But recreation drug use became a vicious drug habit when Matthew decided to try heroin.

Today, because of his drug and alcohol addiction, Matthew has lost all of that. But he may ultimately lose something even more precious - his kids. That is, unless he can convince them that only Christ fills the emptiness that drives people to drugs and drinking.

Matthew is in CityTeam's discipleship and recovery program. He has been clean and sober for seven months, and his newfound faith in Jesus has become more valuable to him than all of the things he lost. "Christ," he says, "gave everything to us - when He could have had everything for Himself."

Today, he wants to use every opportunity he has to help his children avoid making the mistakes he made. It's difficult to advise them, he says, because he has lost credibility in their eyes.

But God can work miracles. And that's what Matthew holds onto every day. "God is the only one who can do it," says Matthew. "I am thankful to CityTeam for helping me rebuild my life and my relationship to Christ also."