A Life Transformed – Tim’s Story

Tim Johnson started life with a loving family, but things changed when he got in with a bad crowd who influenced him to drink and do drugs. He was 25, and for the next 15 years, he repeated a cycle of substance abuse, rehab, burglary, and jail. Then he was arrested for a crime he hadn’t committed, but because of his prior record, he was encouraged to take a plea deal, resulting in nine months in jail. “It was definitely God allowing that to happen,” he said. “I was beginning to understand about guilt, and God knew I didn’t do it, but He was getting my attention.” Once out of jail, Tim had no job and was homeless. In August of 2021, he heard about the Mission where he could get a meal and a good night’s rest. “I heard clean sheets and a good meal and said, ‘Direct me there!’” Tim was accepted into the discipleship program. “I started to grow from there in the Word and have been continually blessed since then,” he said. Tim had worked in the food industry since he was 17, so he served his discipleship in the kitchen at Project Hope and the Family Home. Today he works at Capital Grille. Tim plans to get married in January, he has known his future wife since third grade. While at the Mission, Tim learned how to grow in his relationship with Jesus in the Master Life class, taught by Pastor Richard, whom Tim considers his spiritual mentor. He enjoyed the variety of speakers at nightly chapel services, and at Celebrate Recovery he found support from others who are also working to remain sober and stable. “Sometimes we all need a reminder of where we’ve been in life,” he said. The transformation of Tim’s life has been possible only because fo the Mission’s partners and donors. “Without the Mission, I never would have been able to accomplish the goals that are helping me move on with a productive life in society.”