We found another man with a story: his name was Joe, and he wore a smile as he thanked us for the food he was eating. We began to talk with him and found that he had lived in California his entire life, 58 years, but that his mother was from Mexico. Joe told us that he was nice, and that he loved to speak from his heart. That is exactly what we experienced as others came up to us telling us of the lovely spirit of this man.
After a while, the tone of the conversation changed as Joe told us of his time as a solider in Vietnam. He spoke of dark memories, full of fire and death and pain; of drug-driven nightmares and hallucinations; memories that had stayed with him for 40 years and that he used alcohol to forget.
Joe told us that he and his friend, Arturo, wanted to change and enter a program. We told them about The Dream Center and what was available for them. We asked if we could pray for him and after doing so, left him with some men who had been through the program already. Thankfully, he said he would come to church, now all we can do is pray that he chooses to come, and that the next part of his story is one of healing and restoration.
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