10/10/2026
When men enter the Changed Life Recovery Program (CLRP), they often feel like they’re giving up their freedom. They surrender their keys and cell phones and commit to living at the Mission full-time for six months. But John saw it differently.
He came straight from prison, where he once believed he would spend the rest of his life. He had no keys or cell phone to surrender. For John, entering the Mission wasn’t giving up his freedom. It was the beginning of freedom.
In 1997, John was convicted of killing a man. Although the death was not premeditated, he was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to ex*****on. He lost his freedom, his family, and potentially his life.
Angry at himself, at God, and at the world, John searched for identity and pride. His research into his Norse heritage eventually led him into the occult. He practiced Germanic Pagan rituals and, in 2010, became a Wiccan priest.
“I had a Viking warrior mentality, and that gave me pride,” John says. “But pride is one of the worst sins, because it takes glory from God.”
John spent years seeking to overturn his sentence because his crime had not been premeditated. In 2019, with help from several people, his sentence was changed to life with parole. Eventually, his exemplary behavior in prison earned him parole.
“I could see that all the good things happening to me were orchestrated by Someone—I thought getting out would be impossible!”
During his final two years in prison, Christians—some of whom he had never met—approached him to say they were praying for him. John recognized that the mercy he was experiencing came from the same God who had freed him from addiction years earlier, before he entered prison. He turned to Jesus once again and this time surrendered his life to Him.
“The Lord had me cornered. I had trouble submitting; I wanted to be in control. Now I realize that submitting to God is foundational.”
When John’s parole was approved, he applied to all 42 re-entry organizations provided to him. None responded. Then his cousin asked around at her church and found a connection to Carlton Hill, then Director of the CLRP. John applied to the Mission, and two months ago, the Department of Corrections delivered him to the CLRP.
For the first time in nearly three decades, John was beginning a new life outside prison. “My time here has been fantastic!” he says. “I’ve had quiet time to reflect and pray. It is never quiet in jail! Now I read My Utmost for His Highest every night before bed. In the CLRP, I’ve gained knowledge, peace, and companionship.”
The other CLRP residents have welcomed John as a brother. He even helped form a band with three other men.
But freedom doesn’t mean the transition is easy. When John arrived at the Mission, he had never owned a cell phone or used the internet. He didn’t even have an email address. After 29 years in prison, he is learning how to navigate a world that changed dramatically while he was away.
He is also healing from deeper wounds. “I’m recovering from the PTSD of 29 years in prison. I’m also recovering from wounds going back to my childhood. The Lord has brought me here thus far; I don’t think He’ll leave me now.”
John spent much of his life searching for freedom—in drugs, pride, paganism, and ultimately control of his own life. Now, he is learning that true freedom comes through surrender.
Because of your partnership with the Mission, John is not facing this new life alone. He has a safe place to live, brothers walking alongside him, and a community helping him heal, grow, and learn how to live as a follower of Jesus in a world that changed while he was away.
You helped set John free—and his story is just beginning.
