The dangerous grasp of meth proves never-ending for many in Winnipeg, but some have been able to find the light of Christ, thanks to the untiring efforts of organizations like Adult and Teen Challenge.

Shaun Winter, 31, grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and came from a self-described "decent" family.

"My mom and dad provided for me and my sister, I wasn't brought up around alcohol abuse and drug abuse, this (sic) was something that I just kind of fell into myself with certain friends that I [hung] around with in high school."'

"Nobody really wanted to be around me because I was a ticking time bomb."

Winter met his high-school sweetheart through the party scene they were both involved in. Their first child was born when Winter was 17-years-old.

"Shortly after that, we broke up because I just kept living the party lifestyle."

Winter, who is set to graduate from Adult and Teen Challenge (ATC) on July 16 this year, says that his journey into the life of drugs and alcohol began at 13 when he first started using marijuana, venturing into underage drinking by 14, and soon followed by the use of crack cocaine.

"For 17 years, I was able to coast on those [specific] drugs," says Winter. But circumstances changed in 2017.

"After my cousin got out of jail from doing a two-year bit, I got introduced to crystal meth at a trap house, and within one year of doing that drug it literally tore apart my life."

The influence of meth led Winter down a dangerous and difficult path. While using, he lost two jobs, his relationship with his children and their mother, and his ties to his parents and sister. "Nobody really wanted to be around me because I was a ticking time bomb.\

"For 17 years, I was able to coast on those [specific] drugs."

"One minute, I was fine; the next, something could set me off drastically."

Extreme paranoia, difficulty distinguishing reality from what was not, and a near-absence of sleep are some side effects of the drug that left Winter easily angered and pushed quickly to act out in violence.

"I remember... I thought I was losing my mind," says Winter. "There [were] certain things that I would hear that would make sense but they wouldn't make sense."

He says that despite the darkness that had covered him during that time, a part of him knew that he wasn't completely insane. "God was already working in my life and I just didn't realize it."

"I thought I was losing my mind."

Two years prior, a cousin had told Winter about ATC, but Winter says at the time he just wasn't ready for it, despite his extreme addiction to alcohol. But one night, while addicted to meth and laying on his parents-in-law's couch, a vision of his Opa sent to him from God jolted him to action.

"Just hearing that in my mind gave me the confidence," Winter says. The next day, he informed his kids' mother of his plans to enter ATC.

The quick turnaround was a gift from God, according to Winter. "Knowing me, if I would have had more time to sit on it, I would have backed out. But since it happened so rapidly, I had no choice but to follow through. He didn't even give me time to second-guess my decision."

As part of the ATC program, Winter volunteers at Lighthouse Mission, something he views as an opportunity, a blessing, and a privilege.

"If I wouldn't have followed through with what God was saying to me through my Opa in that vision, I would be on the other side of the serving table now."

Now, seeing where he could have been and knowing the grace of God that was extended to him, Winter works actively to share a smile and the love of Christ with every person he comes in contact with. His prior experiences have lent themselves to beginning several conversations about faith and life with those who are living the life Winter was lucky to leave.

"Right away, you know, I just ask them, 'if you don't mind me asking, what drug are you using?' And of course, they say crystal meth, and now, since I have that knowledge of what it can do to you, I get to speak life into people."

One of the biggest blessings Winter says he has been able to grasp since he became clean through Teen Challenge, however, is the ability to reconnect and rebuild a life with his children.

"I get to be that godly father for my kids... it's just such a blessing now that I get to turn the table around."

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