One day, one step, one soul at a time.

     A little over a month ago I had been mildly looking around for something to replace my old car with. I drive all over the country working for the different ministry groups and my car is getting very high miles and high maintenance. My wife told me that she had seen a nice used Cadillac or something over by our bank at a residence so I went and looked at it. Very nice car, way out of my range. The man that showed it to me is about 70 yrs old and is the elder of a very predominant business family in the Tulsa area. He recently got married and we were talking bout this and that when he asked if I was the guy from The Saving Place. I said that I was and gave him one of my personal cards and left. He gave that card to his new wife because she had a grandson that had been strung out on drugs and causing a lot of problems for quite some time. The next time that she saw her grandson she gave him my card. He admits that he had no intention of ever using it. What he didn't know is everything that was about to happen. His grandmother got in contact with me and I began to advice the family on what to do about the young man and how to handle him. It drove him to the bottom very quickly and he ran out of options before he knew what hit him. He finally did contact me just expecting some sort of "church, charity" type handout. Some money or a motel room. Instead I told him that he needed to enter the shelter so that we could monitor him and get him to church and prepare him for some sort of program. He blew me off and tried all kinds of games and schemes for a week or so and it only made things worse for him. Then he finally came around and we put him in the shelter and began to help him work things out. After he got some rest and some food for a couple days he started working with us at the thrift store. He went to church while he was in the shelter and we got his I.D. and his Indian Registration Card. We pulled a few strings and got him put on a short list for a thirty day sobriety program and my son Justin ran him all around getting all of his ducks in a row. He was different than most, a little more beat down and a pretty tough nut to crack, but we just kept loving him and being straight and stern with him. And finally today came. He has been clean this time for 20 days and he has a spot in the program. He is going in today at 2:00pm for a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 60 days. He feels like he needs this or he won't stay clean. This is a picture of him and I in my office as he came to part ways with me for a little while. He asked for a hug. I gave him one. Then Justin and I prayed for him. He began to cry. He wept for a minute and then he had to go. Pray for him. God probably just saved his life.