‘I thought I’d die with a bottle of whiskey in my hand’

Participants in the recovery program at Victory Family Center in Houston wash cars in Baytown to raise money for the ministry.

“I’m part of a faith-based, drug and alcohol recovery program. I was an alcoholic for over 35 years. I thought I was going to die with a bottle of whiskey in my hand. Through our center and what I was taught there and what I learned from the word of God, I don’t live that life anymore. I’ve been with the ministry for over four years now. I have no desire to ever drink again.

“God has done incredible work in my life. I was raised a racist. At 8 years old, I was taught how to hate and had lived my entire life like that. But I’ve just done a complete turnaround in my life, man. Some of my best friends in the center are black. I don’t have the prejudiced thoughts and hatred or anger and frustration that I used to have. He took all that out of my heart and replaced it with all the things he always intended to be in my heart to begin with.”