Eric had always been self-sufficient. A military veteran, he returned to Memphis ready to build a good life. But one bad decision pulled him into drug use that cost him everything, including his family.
For years, Eric stayed silent. He stopped reaching out. “I didn’t want to be a burden anymore,” he says. “I didn’t feel worth.” That silence became its own kind of prison.
He came to Memphis Union Mission twice and left both times. He had a roof and a program, but his heart was still guarded. “I still hadn’t completely surrendered to God,” he admits.
It was during that season of wandering, sleeping in his car with nowhere left to turn, that his heart softened. Alone and exhausted, Eric cried out to God. “If you’re real, please help me,” he prayed. “I don’t have anyone else.” That honest outpouring set his course and led him back to Memphis Union Mission.
When Eric returned the third time, he was ready to listen. In Bible study, staff members were honest about their own struggles, reminding him that every person needs Jesus. Something broke through. “My life is not my own,” Eric says. “I don’t just live for myself. I live for my family, my future kids, my future wife, for Jesus.” For the first time, that truth wasn’t just something he heard. It was something he believed.
That belief changed everything. He reconnected with his family, restoring relationships that had been silent for years. He found work. He found purpose.
To those who support Memphis Union Mission, Eric says this: “Sometimes people have to correct a lifetime of mistakes in the span of a year, a year and a half. Please be patient. Keep giving. It changed my life.”
Your faithfulness makes that patience possible. Because of friends like you, Memphis Union Mission can minister to people like Eric for as long as it takes, until the life God intended for them begins to unfold.
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