“There was always a pull in my life to want to serve [God], but I was just addicted.”
—Sheaveal
Every time Sheaveal was released from prison, she connected with a local church. However, her attendance would always dwindle until she stopped going altogether.
Then in December 2011, she hit rock bottom. She started doing things she had told herself she’d never do. Sheaveal was sleeping in a roach-infested van and became homeless.
At the time, she had been smoking cocaine for three days straight and hadn’t been taking her prescription medications. Sheaveal struggled to breathe. When she looked down at her body, she noticed it was swollen—an effect of her drug abuse. Although her kids weren’t there to hear her, she muttered apologies to each of them. Climbing into bed, she thought her life was over.
“I just knew I was going to die, and I saw my kids’ faces flash in front of my eyes,” she says. “When I lay down, I tell you, I lay down to die.”
But when God woke her up the next morning, she knew it was only because of His grace and mercy that she had survived a drug overdose. God had kept her safe.
By reaching prisoners and their families with the message of God’s unconditional love, you help heartbroken families know they are precious and valued in God’s eyes. With your help, we can bring the hope of the Gospel to even more prisoners and their families—and transform more lives for eternity!
Mark was in and out of prison several times. But his fifth sentence would be his last ever. He had finally hit rock bottom and was determined to change. “I was just broken,” Mark says. “I was so broken that I started to see that I needed help. So that’s why I reached out to God.” Follow Mark's journey to restoration.
