Meet Dempsey
Thanks to you…Dempsey has been given a life-changing gift this Christmas
“I was in a very dark place.”
“I grew up in foster homes, group homes and street shelters,” Dempsey says. “At a very young age I learned to take care of myself.” Sadly, influenced by his detrimental surroundings, his self-education also included the use of alcohol and drugs.
Over the years, addiction prevented him from holding a steady job… eroded his relationships… and led to what he calls a “nothingness” in life.
Finally, homeless on the streets of Denver, he recognized a voice he’d turned his back on long ago. “I heard the Lord telling me to get on a bus… any bus.” Dempsey went to the station and picked a door that said Kansas City. “I got on that bus and it dropped me a block from here,” he says, referring to our shelter where he’s now in our care.
“I believe God steered me here.”
Dempsey joined our New Believers Covenant program where he began to study the Bible, attend church and participate in discipleship classes. “Now I don’t even feel like using drugs,” he says. “I need the Lord in my life, and I want to learn more about Jesus.” He is also encouraged by the walk of our godly staff and mentors. “You need to surround yourself with believers,” he says.
As he works in our kitchen, he’s embracing the joy of service and feels he’s being called into ministry. “After graduation I plan to stay in this field as a cook or a chef.”
Today, no longer living in darkness, Dempsey’s future is bright. “You have to have ethics about yourself… put the past behind… and become a new person in Christ,” he says. “Once I learned all that, I knew I’d be all right in the world.”
It’s going to be a Christmas filled with joy for Dempsey – and he is so grateful to you for this wonderful gift of a new beginning. “The Mission has changed my life 100 percent and people notice. They say, ‘Hey, you got a smile on your face!’”
Click here to download the Holiday 2021 issue of Light Newsletter
