In 2016 and earlier you would find a man who found it his goal to find his next high by caving to his addiction. Not only would he feed his own flesh but he would indulge in the opportunity to profit off of the need for others to succumb to their own addiction as well. This would be a cycle and there would be periods of time where getting clean would see some success, but without God at the center of it, relapse would become inevitable. That same man is celebrating a birthday on September 15th, 2024. September 15th would be a day to celebrate as God would be at the center of a miraculous recovery and a new purpose in life. Happy Spiritual/recovery Birthday to Mike Kimsey!
34 giant boxes of an unkown substance arrived on campus last week. Mike had filled me in on the fact that a delivery would be made and that we should look out for it and let him know when it got here. The delivery was Narcan and Fentanyl test strips. 2400 doses to be exact. Narcan is a substance that is used in cases of drug overdose to revive users and block the effects of drugs that were killing the user. Mike, a large in imposing presence turned into a young child at Christmas upon entering into the church gymnasium and seeing those large boxes filled with the resource of help and hope. The smile could not be wiped off of his face and the rest of us on campus did not seem to fully understand the excitement Mike was experiencing. I inquired as to why he was so excited and the testimony of the change that he sees in himself was shared. “8 years ago I would have been upset by Narcan and the fact that it could kill any greatly desired high. Today I stand excited that the same hope and purpose I have found in Christ and recovery is something that I can offer to others.”
Mike’s desire is to see lifes saved by the instruction and use of Narcan. His hope is that as he distributes this and tells his testimony and invites other into recovery that God would reach out to them in the same way that God reached out to him 8 years ago. One other exciting piece to this is that before I even knew about this spiritual/recovery birthday, we had asked Mike to come in and be part of our church office one day a week. Starting Sept. 1st, Mike is now available to use office hours and resources to continue to offer the resource of help and hope to those who are in need of a Savior and recovery. Our hope is that with some added time and availably God can use Mike in many ways to grow His kingdom and bring recovery to a county to desperately needs it. If you are interested in learning more about Narcan or test strips I know Mike would take great joy in training anyone to distribute them or use them to save a life.
Happy Birthday Mike and Welcome to the Church Office!
-Pastor Paul Mollett