|
|
|||
A clear blue sky
“So I went to other people for love and acceptance but I fell into a bad crowd and gradually got more and more dependent on drugs. Although everyone else around me knew I was a drug addict, I did not realise the extent of my addiction until I fell from the third storey of a house at the age of 17. I remember waking up in hospital and realising that I was a drug addict. I understood that I did not have much of a future ahead of me. “My father got involved at that point and made me enrol in the army to give my life structure and discipline, which would help free me of my problems. I was in the army for four years, and I worked for a year after that. For five years I did not take drugs. But then I started spending time with my old friends again, and that got me thinking about drugs again. In fact, one day I had a vision of a mountain of drugs. The vision only lasted for five seconds but that was all it took to get me started again: five years of being clean ruined in five seconds! Felt empty “After a while I realised that I had a problem again and that I could not solve it on my own. So I visited a spiritualist, hoping the spirits would be able to help me. I also went to a Buddhist temple. I lived there for two months, and it was lovely. But I still felt empty on the inside. I wondered, ‘What shall I do with my life?’ “When I was in a deep depression, I heard the Gospel for the first time from a Christian lady whose son was being treated for drug addiction in a place called the City of Refuge. With her help, I ended up staying at the rehabilitation home for a year, and now I have been clean for two years. “I became a Christian while I was at the home. My father was astonished at how I had changed and he became interested in Christianity. He became a Christian, too, and we were baptised together in June 2004. Statues “My mother used to pray to statues of gods that she kept at home. She has now thrown them out but she has not become a Christian yet. “Now my life is totally different. I used to feel there was a grey cloud inside my head that would never disappear. Now it is like there is a clear blue sky above me. I now work at the home and I want to spend my life helping other people find a new life in Jesus.” “My mother used to pray to statues of gods that she kept at home. She has now thrown them out but she has not become a Christian yet. “Now my life is totally different. I used to feel there was a grey cloud inside my head that would never disappear. Now it is like there is a clear blue sky above me. I now work at the home and I want to spend my life helping other people find a new life in Jesus.” (WR410/29-04.07) [4 photos]
Just five years ago Xu Wei’s life was a living hell. For 10 years he had been in the grip of a powerful addiction to drugs that led him to lie, cheat and steal. He was living on the streets and could see no way out of his situation. He was miserable. “One day I was talking to a friend who drove a van for a living,” he recalls. “I was telling him how unhappy I was and he asked me if I wanted to get rid of my addiction. He said that he knew a place where I could go and get help and that I would not have to pay anything. I was interested and he drove me to the City of Refuge. “During my therapy I was given a Bible. To begin with, I did not understand much of what I was reading, but I kept at it and I got to know the stories in the New Testament very well. What particularly moved me was the love and kindness of the people working at the home. “Eventually, I became a Christian. If I had not found Jesus I would still be a drug addict living on the streets. Instead, I have been clean for five years and I am helping other people leave drugs and alcohol behind them and start their lives afresh.” Xu Wei has a favourite Bible verse which, he says, has encouraged him throughout his struggle with addiction. “I love Philippians 4:13, which says, ‘I can do anything through him who gives me strength.’” (WR410/30-04.07) [3 photos] Contents |
|||
|
|
