Finding Freedom from Addiction
Kevin needed help. His vision was blurry and he couldn’t think straight. So, from the floor of his apartment, he texted his sister and daughter to call an ambulance. Once it arrived, he crawled out the door on his hands and knees. It wasn’t long before doctors confirmed what Kevin already knew: his organs were shutting down. He needed freedom from addiction.
Where Kevin’s Story Begins
“I had a drinking problem when I first got married,” Kevin recalls. “Once I got married, though, it became more prevalent.” Back in those days, he lived from one drink to the next. He was cynical and didn’t have any purpose in his life.
By the time he was crawling on his hands and knees toward that ambulance, Kevin had gone through several rehab programs. None of them seemed to make a difference. He relapsed every time—cynical about life, yet fearful of death.
In fact, if it weren’t for a phone call from his brother while Kevin was in the hospital, Kevin isn’t sure he’d even be alive today. His brother shared about a rehabilitation center in Indianapolis called NewDay.
“They’re waiting on ya,” he told Kevin. “Don’t worry about the details. Just get there.” So Kevin did. As soon as he was released, he and his father drove straight to Indy. There, Kevin met Dan Johnson, the founder of The NewDay Center. The faith-based treatment center was fairly new, and its approach was unlike anything Kevin had ever experienced.
Finding Freedom from Addiction
“We really didn’t talk about alcohol that much,” he says with a laugh. “We started just talking, and I did a lot of reading.” Through that time, Kevin learned that his foundation had been broken since he was a small child. But by God’s grace, he started rebuilding that foundation.
“Unless you get with God, I don’t believe you can ever be free from any addiction,” Kevin now realizes. “I’d been to all those meetings and it was just a matter of when I’d relapse. I remember sitting in those meetings, already contemplating when I was going to drink.”
Now, Kevin is a completely different man—one who doesn’t think about drinking at all. “It would have been easy to withdraw during COVID,” he admits. “But I’m striving to be more Christlike. Now that I’m out of the program at NewDay, Dan and I still stay in touch. If there’s a bump or a question, we talk.”
What Life Is Like Now for Kevin
Ultimately, Kevin knows that the work God has done is life-changing and lifelong. And when people ask him how he came to live in Indy, Kevin is quick to share his story—God’s story.
“If I didn’t have that faith,” he says, “I would be dead. I would not be 521 days sober right now.”
“I have a purpose now,” Kevin says. “And I think one of my purposes is to help other people come to the realization I did; there’s no way but through Christ.”
Through its Christmas Offering, College Park Church is partnering with The NewDay Center to provide faith-based addiction treatment and counseling in Indianapolis. Learn more and give at yourchurch.com/christmasoffering.
