{

“I spent most of my life trying to escape.”

Luis had never been in a place like Shelter KC before. He initially came here for a hot meal and shelter from the cold. But what he found was a new way of life.

“I had grown up with abuse,” he says. “Sexual, mental and physical. On top of that, I had neurological problems like ADHD. I spent most of my life trying to escape things.”

Because of these troubles, Luis had spent most of his life denying God. But after coming to Shelter KC, Luis had a change of heart. “I knew that if I could get myself right with God, I could address other issues along the way.”

And God began speaking to Luis during chapel services. “It seemed like the speaker was speaking directly to me at every service,” he remembers. “It felt like God was having a sit-down, heart-to-heart talk with me. It was all I could do to keep from crying. It was that deep of a conversation that I thought God was having with me.”

That experience motivated Luis to join our Christian Community of Recovery (C-COR) program. “I felt like God said, ‘Hey, you’ve been doing it your way. Are you finally going to listen and take this path I’ve had for you all along?’”

Having graduated from C-COR, Luis attends seminary classes and is enrolled in our Discipleship Through Service (DTS) program. He gives back in various ways, including helping organize volunteers and managing the men in the program who work there. “I talk with both the homeless guests and the C-COR guys to get a sense of what’s going on and to help them out.”

He has also reestablished ties with his family. “Even though I’m still divorced, my ex-wife and I can talk again. I have a lot of family members who had cut me off completely and who now talk with me again, including my sister.”

“I’ll never be able to fully repay the gift this place gave me,” he says. “I was on the path to physical and spiritual death. I was at a point where I had no hope. I wanted to die, but God protected me for this redemption. Now I have hope. I have purpose.”