Cliff shares how God used your support to transform his life…
Cliff grew up in a home marked by poverty, violence, drugs, and an abusive father. When police removed his sister, his mother fled with him, but by age 12, he was a ward of the state. He bounced between placements until he was released at 18… with no family, no direction, and deep wounds of rejection.
What followed were years of addiction, broken relationships, and despair. Though he had a season of sobriety – even building a successful business – his recovery was built on sand. Tragedy struck when both his mother and the woman he loved died. Unable to cope with his grief, he relapsed, lost everything, and spent the next decade homeless on the Sacramento River.
“I was angry, alone, tired – and I started to see death as a bittersweet relief.” His addictions eventually led to prison. There, God began to draw him. “I acknowledged to Him all my wrongdoings. I knew that only God could save me. I got down on my knees and said, ‘Lord, please help me. Change my desires, change my ways.’”
Cliff remembered seeing men in the New Life Program while eating at the Union Gospel Mission. “If God could change them,” he thought, “maybe He could change me too.”
“Now I have hope.”
Upon release, he entered the program. Through Scripture and Gospel teaching, the Holy Spirit revealed his true condition: “I finally realized what the problem is. It’s me. It’s my own heart.” God opened Cliff ’s eyes and gave him saving faith in Christ, and he now walks in newness of life!
Today, Cliff works as UGM’s Maintenance Technician and lives in the Mission’s Redemption House as he rebuilds his life. He is pursuing baptism and church membership, grateful for God’s mercy.
“Now I know that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. I pray that the Mission’s ‘Jesus Saves’ sign will always shine, so others lost in the dark can find their way here.”
To read the full issue of Saving Grace, click here to download.
