Restored to Serve
The Longest stay at ETC
How being restored through Empowered to Change became a life long mission.
Dear Reader,
A personal message to YOU,
Hi, My name is Ken. I got out of prison almost nine years ago — my second time there, and I didn't know what I was going to do next.
I heard about ETC through a pastor I was talking to while I was still inside, and he helped me a lot. I gave it a try a couple of days after I got out, because I liked the idea of having a safe place and a house to start my new life. I had spent years in prison wanting something like ETC and getting into the program was the biggest blessing.
People had been helping me all along, but going out on my own wasn't going to work. I'd have been lost, and probably locked back up. I needed what ETC offers, and I knew I had to do the work myself if I wanted a great life. This was the biggest blessing — one of a kind, honestly. I went through the program with a lot of help, and right from the start I found myself helping others succeed too, because I already knew a lot of what they were learning.
The staff at ETC — Shelly (Michele) and Coral — showed me from the beginning what it really means to work for the Lord. Now, about nine years later, I work for them at one of their houses — the intake house called Faith House.
This program saved my life, and I've watched it save countless others. I'll never go back to prison. I owe my new life to the Lord first, and to Empowered to Change, the way I'll always see it. My success never would have happened out on the streets. What a great blessed life I was able to build through their program and especially having a house to heal in.
Your support makes stories like Ken's possible.
I'm going on nine years now, and I love every bit of working for them. I used to be all about getting into trouble. Now, thanks to them and the Lord, I'm all about serving others — living the best life I've ever had, and one I never would have had without this program. The Lord's hands are in everything ETC does.
The ETC staff are family to me, and I love getting to help others learn and receive what I received here — I've watched a lot of people do exactly that over the years, and I get to see it firsthand.
I'm always there to help, and as an ETC staff member now, I volunteer my time seven days a week, one way or another. By the grace of God, I'm here for new people and new staff. We get to help people in every way — not just hand them something and send them on their way. That will never work, and ETC isn't about that. They're all in for the broken from the start, wanting to give them exactly what they need to build a new life.
I want to say something straight to you, the person reading this right now. Through ETC God is using real people to reach into prison cells, back alleys, and broken homes and restore their lives. I'm living proof of that. Your support isn't just a dollar amount — it's a safe house staying open, a bed available for someone who has nowhere else to go, another chance at the same new life I got. I'm asking you, one redeemed man to another believer: partner with Empowered to Change. Help keep this alive. There are souls depending on it, and one day, I believe we'll stand together with Jesus because someone said yes.
I could talk for months about this program, but here's a little of what I think.