A dark gas station bathroom seems an unlikely place to see the light. But that is where Jonnell first clearly saw his predicament.

Looking in the gas station mirror after coming off the streets, Jonnell saw a gaunt figure and a haggard face, and he realized how far he’d fallen. He wept.

Jonnell grew up in a broken family. His father beat his mother, and he experienced abuse at the hand of a relative. He was locked in closets with his siblings, and consequently developed an acute fear of riding in elevators. He began drinking at an early age, began smoking marijuana, and later became trapped in a ten year addiction to crack cocaine. “I wasn’t getting high because I liked getting high,” he says. “There was a lot of pain.” Eventually, he began dealing drugs and lived for long periods of time on the street.

As he looked into the bathroom mirror that fateful day, all his pain and brokenness washed over him. He remembered a forgotten Scripture verse:

Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. James 1:23-24 (NIV)

Jonnell knew his reflection in the mirror was telling him he had to get help. “That is when I asked the Lord to save me from my sinful life,” he says.

“I used to be homeless and now have a wonderful home and family.”

At the prompting of a pastor and his twin brother, he walked four and a half miles to the Denver Rescue Mission’s Lawrence Street Shelter. On the journey, he tried to convince other homeless people to join him, to try to come change their lives, too. None of them elected to join him, so he went on alone. When he arrived at the Mission, Jonnell joined the New Life Program—a long-term rehabilitation program for men and women struggling with homelessness and addictions.

“I saw life here,” Jonnell says. “I knew that day that the Lord was going to use this place to completely shape and mold me into a different man.”

The structure provided by the New Life Program helped him deepen his faith with God, receive counseling for past hurts, and gain tools to become self-sufficient after graduation. He was even able to overcome his fear of elevators!

He is currently the Volunteer/Work Therapy Coordinator at the Lawrence Street Shelter, where he enjoys working with men coming off the streets, guiding tours of the Mission, and screening recently incarcerated men looking to enter the New Life Program. “I really have hope for them. Not only am I just saying that, I am a witness that the Lord truly works.... I am a living, walking, breathing, and redeemed testimony.”

This Easter, the Mission wants to bless hundreds of needy people with Hope Totes—bags filled with everyday hygiene items many of us take for granted. You can help by donating the following new and unopened items:

• Toothbrushes
• Toothpaste
• Shampoo/Conditioner
• Soap
• Disposable razors
• Shaving cream
• Deodorant
• Brushes/Combs
• Hand/Body lotion
• Feminine hygiene products

We have several convenient drop-off locations:

Denver Rescue Mission
Now through April 12th
Lawrence Street Shelter: 1130 Park Avenue West
Ministry Outreach Center: 3501 E. 46th Avenue (I-70 & Steele/Vasquez)

Azteca Ranch Market Gifts of Hope Hygiene Drive
Sponsored by Azteca America Colorado, Azteca Ranch Market
and KBNO 1280 AM Que Bueno
March 2nd through March 29th
Azteca Ranch Market, Denver: 270 S. Federal Blvd.
Azteca Ranch Market, Aurora: 11505 E. Colfax Ave.

Cherry Hills Community Church Easter Celebration
Sunday, April 12th at 10 a.m.
Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater: 6350 Greenwood Plaza Blvd., Englewood, CO 80111

The celebration will feature music by a band and 250 voice choir, as well as an Easter message by senior pastor, Dr. Jim Dixon. Doors will open at 9 a.m. In addition to the items suggested above, Cherry Hills will also accept donations of new socks and underwear for men, women and children in all sizes. For details and directions, visit www.chcc.org or call 303.791.4100.