'Jesus is everything to me. Without Him, I can't do it'

A woman in the Charis Centre program with Union Gospel Mission is sharing her powerful testimony of when she met Jesus.

"I come from a poor family. There was religion in the home. I went to midnight mass and was baptized when I was little. I was brought up with faith but the actions were not the same."

Angela shares that she grew up surrounded by alcoholism, abuse, and poverty.

"I knew about Jesus, as far as the name, and He was God's son. That was it. I didn't understand any of it and I didn't even look into or consider it."

For much of Angela's life, she shares that she was in a dark place, angry with God and asking Him why things were the way they were. 

"I turned to addiction because, I'm realizing now that addiction was filling up that hole, that space that I wanted to be loved. Wanting to be accepted and complete. I started using cocaine when I was 30 and after a few years, realizing I was in trouble, I came to Charis Centre."

When Angela walked through the doors of the women's addiction recovery centre, a part of Union Gospel Mission (UGM) was back in 2014. 

"The first time I made it two weeks. I didn't understand this place at all. I thought it was a cult. I got my stuff and left very in rage and in anger."

Angela came and went a few times over the next few years, her longest stay lasting two months. 

"The Lord started working in my life. I was in my sister's one-bedroom apartment, lying on a mattress on the floor asking myself 'What should I do?' It was about 10 o'clock at night and the word 'Charis' came into my head. I sat up and said 'Charis' and asked where did that come from? I called Charis in the morning."

She walked through the doors at the centre on January 31, 2022, and has been in the program since. 

"About two weeks in, I started reading the Bible. I was given a Teaching Bible. I was loving it and absorbing it because I've never actually read the Bible."

A woman prayed over Angela, revealing that she believed a lie about her worth. 

"All of a sudden I start crying. She keeps praying and praying and I felt this rush come over me of warmth and peace, something I've never felt before. It almost felt like I was floating and I didn't understand it. I felt so incredible and it was my spiritual awakening. Since that moment I realized that Jesus is everything to me. Without Him, I can't do it."

Jesus has changed Angela's life and she shares that she doesn't feel the need to control anything anymore. 

"I know I'm home. I know I'm loved, Jesus has me. I'm no longer afraid anymore or angry."

Hear more stories of transformation like Angela's during the Nothing But Jesus Radiothon on June 15 & 16 all in support of UGM, on CHVN 95.1 FM.