Leadership

“As a young girl I was full of innocence and purity. I trusted EVERYONE… I spent my early years of childhood in my daddy’s junk yard. We lived in a tent and eventually a small shack. Most of the time we didn’t have a running vehicle so we walked. As a 4 year old little girl I would hold my daddy’s sweaty hand as we walked the roads. My daddy was a broken, hurting man full of hatred and pain…he filled his gaping wounds with alcohol. His addiction robbed him of me and so much more. I was taken in by my aunt and uncle at 5 years old…they introduced me to a world unknown… a world of running water, lights, a real bathroom, home cooked meals and most of all UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. They loved me as their own. They made every effort to make me feel like I belonged. My biological mother stepped in and wanted to spend time with me…I was ECSTATIC! My real mother….my blood…my heart…my momma. I would get to go with her on weekends and this was such a special time for me because I loved my mother. However, my mother was a drug addict. She was a broken woman seeking love in men, drugs and alcohol. Knowing of her brokenness made me love her even more… I wanted to save her. I wanted her to be safe…I wanted to see her smile. I loved my momma. Satan however did not…he hated her, he hated me…he only wanted to steal kill and destroy. And that’s what he did. My mother let the devil get in and shatter my innocence…her and her boyfriend sexually molested me when I was only 9 years old. I was destroyed, hurt, confused and afraid. That little girl that TRUSTED everyone suddenly could TRUST NO-ONE. By the time I was in high school I started doing drugs to numb the pain…I sought out my healing and my redemption through a pill, a pipe, a joint and fornication. I experience death, hell and the grave of depression and hopelessness. I was manufacturing and shooting meth in my veins every single day. By the time I was 18 I was seeking death. My misery had reached an all time high when the drugs were no longer enough to escape. I desired death… Revelation 9:6 “They will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.” My addiction sent me through…Death, Hell and the Grave. In saying that…what did Jesus experience? Death, Hell and the Grave! Then…JESUS ROSE FROM THE GRAVE AND CONQUERED FOREVER VICTORIOUS! Today I am honored to say that I have shared in Jesus’s suffering! I had to go through death to CONQUER , I had to go through hell to experience VICTORY and I had to go to the grave to RISE WITH JESUS! I was met by a loving father in a tiny jail cell. I cried out from the depths of my despair and every ounce of my being cried out. Only then, in that place of complete brokenness was HIS love made perfect! His power and might was most strong there in my weakness! Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Jesus resurrected me from the dust! He breathed life into my dry bones…he put a new heart in me and removed my heart of stone. Although he met me…I still had to get up and follow Him. I entered a faith based recovery program ready to spend 13 months humbling myself and letting God transform me with His word. I went on to graduate and serve as a biblical counselor for 4 years. I have spoken to thousands of people over the past 9 years since my conversion, I have proclaimed the name of Jesus as I pour out my heart and share my journey as a prodigal returning home to my loving father. He loved me in my brokenness…even then He shed his precious blood for me. I am forever humbled for his act of LOVE. I have fallen in love with this Jesus Christ…This Savior who redeemed me from the hand of the enemy…who brought down my heart with labor, who by his loving kindness and endless mercies led me to repentance. Thank You Jesus! Oh how I love you my KING, my ROCK, my REDEEMER! May I forever reflect your glory! “ ~Marley Jane Scalf

Hello, my name is Lincoln Shelton. I am 44 years old. I am married to my wonderful wife Denna, of 20 years. We live in Jonesborough, Tennessee where we are members of Nolichucky Baptist Church. Where at Nolichucky Baptist I teach discipleship and a Thrive class for Sunday school.  I have been involved in ministry for over 20 years. I accepted Christ at the age of 20 and was called to preach a year later.  Shortly after my call to ministry I began to serve as a youth minister.  After serving at that church for two years I felt led to continue my education. I attended Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute in Hendersonville, North Carolina, where I earned an Associate Degree in Religion/Church Ministries in 2003.

After graduation, I worked at the Hendersonville Rescue Mission. I was employed there for seven years. During this time, I saw a great need for Christian-based counseling for those who are bound by addiction and for the mentally ill. While at the Rescue Mission I also pastored a bilingual (Spanish/English) church. During this pastorate I counseled numerous couples who were having marriage difficulties which furthered my desire to become more competent in counseling. During this time, we also baptized over 25 new converts.

My wife and I moved back to Tennessee in 2010, as we felt led to return to this region. Shortly after we moved, I began pastoring Community Church of Bristol. I served there for over four years. It was at that time I felt as though I needed once again to further my education. After working with juvenile justice youth, serving as a hospice chaplain, and counseling in the secular field, I felt called to create a ministry in the field of Christian coaching and counseling known as Thrive, Life Advancement Ministries INC (thrivelam.com). I received my license as a professional counselor (LPC, MHSP) 7-29-20.

I am ordained as a SB minister. I have my Associate Degree in Religion/Church Ministries (Fruitland Baptist Bible Collage), Bachelor of Science in Psychology/Christian Counseling and MA in Professional Counseling through (Liberty University).

In His service

Rev. Lincoln Shelton

My Name is Bobby Morgan I’m from Greeneville TN I was a 26 year Drug Addict. I completed the R.S.M program I signed on as an intern I am now the choir director I have been Clean and sober for 15 months and it’s all do to Jesus Christ working Through this program and not only that me and my wife were in Drug addiction together and God blessed my marriage allowed my wife to be the First Lady in the women center so we are both learning to put God first so we can have the Godly marriage we are ment to have

Five years ago I was told by the doctors I had six months, possibly less, to live. I had cirrhosis and I needed a liver transplant. I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything or anyone but drugs and alcohol, that’s what my life had become. I had spent the last 15 years letting drugs and alcohol rule my life. I had lost control, and I had lost hope. I couldn’t stand myself and what I had become.
I was in and out of the hospital for years due to my addiction, weeks at a time, just for them to get me some what on track, and then I’d be right back at it. I was going to UVA once a month trying to get on a liver transplant list. I had no intention on doing it because deep down I knew I’d die before I even got it. During this time my sons father was sick too, all his organs were shutting down and he passed away at the age of 33. My son was 12, just lost his dad and there I was next in line. 
I remember laying in bed, hadn’t showered in at least a week, hadn’t eaten anything more than a few crackers thinking to myself just grab the gun, end it. I couldn’t move my arms to get the gun that was under the bed. It was as if I was paralyzed and couldn’t move. This was the absolute lowest point in my life.

My name is Mitchell Presnell I’m 33. I had a great childhood, when I got out of high school I thought I had life in my hands because I thought I had everything that the world told me I need to be complete. I was in a accident October 9 of 2011 Playing with Tannerite. It caused me allot of medical problems. after this I got hooked on meth for the better part of nine years it took everything from me but God stepped in! November 30th of 2021 made two years clean for me I’m actually living a blessed life now. I’m blessed to be part of recovery soldiers ministries. I enjoy every opportunity that God put in front of me. Living my best life now. Matthew 6:33

My name is Bethany Morgan and I am 34yrs old. I have been in criminal lifestyle and drug addiction for ten years. I have spent most of my life in prison and jails. But, the real prison wasn’t the one I was in physically, my prison was the one I was in mentally. Every thought I had ,and every decision I made… was connected and controlled by a craving. I was in complete bondage to drugs. When addiction attacked my life for a second time ,and began to destroy my marriage , I knew I needed help and couldn’t do it on my own. RSM stepped in and not only gave me a home, and a chance …but also my husband a home, and a chance. Jesus used this program to completely transform both of our lives and he has saved our marriage!As we have learned to build it on HIM as the solid foundation! What the devil meant for our harm, God has used for our future and our hope! And ,He used RSM to do it ! True freedom ,is not in the freedom to do what you want to do, but it’s the freedom you have in not doing things! I am finally free and am no longer in the bondage that held me for so long! I praise God for his mercy and how he has saved me and my husband!  

My Name Shawn Nance I am from Grundy Co TN, I am 52 years old I had a great life as a child and at the age of 40yr old is when I started using prescription medication my life went on a downhill spiral after that and at the age of 51 my life was completely a wreck and I came to RSM broken with no hope I was bond by sin an addiction and I surrendered my heart to Jesus onAugust 20, 2021 and I’ve never been the same this has been the best 12 months in my life for many years I’m just so thankful to have my family my children for all the support that they have given me and the transformation that is in my life now I’m just so thankful that when he was on the Cross that I was on his mind and all the love and support that RSM has given me since I’ve been here the structure the obedience that had came back in my life and I would like to say if you are struggling with any kind of addiction i’m ready to change your life come to RSM through the power of Jesus Christ with a open heart and a made up mind it will change your life forever! 

My name is Joshua Nunley. I’m 29 years old and I’m from Monteagle, TN. My parents divorced when I was a toddler and I went to live with my mother. She taught me how to find joy and happiness in life. She showed me how to love and have compassion on others. I only went to see my father every other weekend. He taught me obedience and work ethic when I did. He also taught me Scripture and how to serve the Lord. Like most kids, I didn’t enjoy the discipline or correction I received when I went to my dads house so when I was old enough I stopped going. It was at this time that I turned away from the Lord and from his Word. I would attend church with my mom sometimes, but I never truly had a desire for it. I had a pretty typical upbringing throughout my youth. I made good grades, had lots of friends and lived a joy-filled life. When I was in the eighth grade my mom started suffering from brain complications and health problems. These health problems eventually led her into an unintentional addiction to prescription medication. It confused me and made me question life. My mom suffering from addiction and my dad not being present in my life made me feel alone and unloved. As a result I started drinking and smoking marijuana with my friends when I was sixteen. I just wanted to be accepted, included and to fit in with others. I never imagined that this seemingly innocent behavior as a teenager would lead me into a twelve year downward spiral of addiction and alcoholism. Over the span of a decade, what started out as drinking with my friends at age sixteen to have fun turned into me being alone with a needle in my arm just to get by. During my ten years of addiction I lost sight of myself. I lied, I stole, and I manipulated everyone that I encountered. I wreaked havoc on every situation that I was involved in. I destroyed every good thing about my life. I worried my family sick, I wronged my friends who tried to help me and I wasted many years of my life due to substance abuse. I was in and out of jail, working dead end jobs, dropping out of college and digging myself further into addiction. I was caught up in a repetitive cycle that was ultimately going to end in death. I knew that I needed help pretty much the whole time I was in addiction, but I didn’t have the strength to make the change myself. One of my best friends from high school, Marley, had overcame the addiction that controlled her for many years. She went to a program, found the Lord and eventually opened a recovery center herself. She tried to convince me to get help for years, but the enemy had me exactly where he wanted me. I believed his lies and was content living a life of hopelessness, misery and despair. As my life continued to crumble, I knew that I needed to get away from what I knew and get help. By the grace of God I got taken to jail on March 28, 2021. I started reading my Bible in jail and I began to feel this tug at my heart. The Lord met me where I was at in my life and He saved my soul. I surrendered my life to Christ on April 28th, 2021. I then reached out to Marley and told her I wanted to come to recovery. I came to Recovery Soldiers Ministry on June 18th, 2021 and traded my will for His. It was the hardest thing I have ever done but at the same time it was the most rewarding thing I have ever done. I graduated from RSM on June 21, 2022 and signed a six month internship to work for the ministry. I am now the Intake Director of Recovery Soldiers Ministry so I get to help guys who reach out and want to come to treatment here to change their lives. I also teach a Living in Balance class, an Inner Healing class and small group Bible studies to the guys here at the ministry. God has revealed a burning desire in my heart to help others and to serve Him. I know that here at RSM I can continue to grow in the Lord and answer the calling that He has given me at this point in my life. I don’t know why He loves me so much, but I am forever grateful that He does. It is a testimony to the goodness of God that He has transformed an all around terrible individual like I once was into a man of God. He traded my anxiety for peace, my depression for joy and my unbelief for faith. He took the prisoner of the world that I once was and made me a servant of the King. For most of my life I was a slave to many things, but now I am content being a slave to Jesus Christ. As my roots grow deeper in the Lord and I separate myself from my old lifestyle I keep the mindset of the apostle Paul when he was writing in Philippians 3:13, 14. “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Thank you for reading my testimony. Joshua 1:9.

Growing up I never really wanted for anything. I attended church fairly regularly and I knew about God. Looking back I isolated myself as a child. My parents became consumed by their jobs and when I turned 14 we quit attending church. My addiction started when I was 15 years old. I made a choice to start smoking marijuana to fit in with my peers. By the age of 16 I was using meth and started drinking occasionally. I was open to try most anything and experimented with anything I could get ahold of. Things at home started to get worse between my parents and they ended up divorcing the day after I graduated high school. I had an expensive habit by this time and became involved with manufacturing meth and selling various drugs to support my habit. I spent a lot of time in and out of jail. I became involved in a relationship that was fueled by addiction. In Feb. 2006 my daughter was born. I knew I needed to change my lifestyle but I turned to methadone to get off of the drugs I was on. That went good for about a year then I started back into the same old pattern of my drug lifestyle. My daughter was 3 when I realized she was picking up on mine and my wife’s bad habits. I knew something had to change. Unfortunately my wife did not feel the same way and we ended up getting a divorce. She had been seeing other men and tried to keep me from seeing my daughter. She continued to use and by Gods grace I got clean for a while. I ended up getting custody of my daughter and things went well for a couple of years. In 2011, I ended up having to have surgery on my shoulder and was prescribed pain medication. I didn’t stop when my meds ran out and continued to use. Went through an up and down battle back in addiction until it grabbed a good hold back on me. In early 2013, I ended up committing two felony offenses due to my dependence on drugs. I ended up losing custody of my daughter and spending some time in jail. When I got out of jail I went straight to drinking. Managed to hold a job for a couple of years all the while my addiction took my life back over. I ended up violating my probation due to several misdemeanor charges and was facing a 6 year prison sentence in 2016. My family didn’t want anything to do with me at this point and while I lay in a jail cell I cried out to God and He heard me. I knew I needed help and all the methods I had tried ended in failure. In February of 2017, the judge allowed me to be released to Recovery Soldiers Ministries instead of going to prison. That is where I found true freedom from addiction through a relationship with Jesus Christ. March of 2018 I completed the program. I worked a good job, continued to tell others about what Jesus had done in my life, and even taught God’s Word at times. I built my relationship with my daughter and family back and everything was going great. I slowly drifted away from ministry but still attended church regularly. Then came the COVID pandemic in 2020. I started to isolate myself to work and home. Even after the pandemic I continued to stay mostly home. I fell out of fellowship and the enemy seen a crack in my armor. I drove by the liquor store for two months before I gave in to that little voice saying just one drink will be okay. So after 5 years free from addiction I started to drink. Slowly I progressed to smoking marijuana and taking pills again. I knew I needed to stop but couldn’t. So God got my attention through the man I had been working for. I decided I needed to regroup and get my priorities figured out and came back to Recovery Soldiers Ministries for help on January 1st 2022. In this regeneration process I found the healing and answers I needed to have a continued success in freedom from addiction. All of what I have had to go through in my past has prepared me for what is now happening in my life and where God is leading me for a future in His purpose for my life. I am currently an intern with the ministry looking forward to becoming part of the staff teaching those that have been through similar trials the skills I have acquired over the years in various trades as well as becoming a certified OSHA trainer to help those coming out of the grips of addiction transition back into society ready to join the work force safely and effectively.

  -The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delights in his way. 

     Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholds him 

     with His hand.    

    Psalm 37:23-24

My name is Kym Morgan. I am 47 years old.I grew up in a loving home, did well in school, made friends easily, and my family was very active in church. Most of my childhood was in Jacksonville, Florida. At age17, I met someone and within 3 months we were married. I dropped out of my senior year and quickly started a family. By 24 I had four little boys, and they became my reason to live. My marriage struggled, probably more than most but my family was my number 1 priority. I learned to look like
I had everything together on the outside while on the inside I was suffering quietly. I eventually got my GED and graduated college in 2007, as a respiratory therapist. I started a career, had my family, and things seemed good..I had no idea nearly a decade long addiction was creeping into my life. My world was shattered when 17 years of marriage ended suddenly. I remember being so angry and afraid. The boys were almost teenagers and naturally, they were deeply affected too. Emotionally I shut down, became unable to help my children deal with their loss. I began to consume alcohol and take prescription medication to cope. I chose abusive relationships and became abusive as well. Being well known in my community, I felt like the world was watching me fall but nobody could help me. My addiction spiraled. I became a slave to alcohol. My body would tremor without it. I was arrested for the first time in my life with a DUI. I lost my car, home, career, and was homeless for 2 years. My family told me I would never know my grandchildren or be welcomed in their homes, unless I went for help. I finally surrendered. Since coming to Rsm, God has restored everything to me and more. Through this ministry God has healed my broken heart. I have learned the joy of the Lord is my strength and things of this world don’t define who I am. I have been offered a career with the ministry, helping ladies find the freedom in Jesus that I have been given, and managing an amazing thrift store that shines light into our community. My family supports me and they see that God reached down, touched my life and restored my hope. I am so thankful for this journey and the love RSM has shown me. Recovery is possible!
Psalm 107:13-14 then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains in pieces.

My name is Nikki Zirkle, I am 45 years old from a small town Big Stone Gap in Wise County VA.  My addiction started at about 16 years old, smoking pot and drinking. In my 20’s I experimented with lots of drugs… acid, mushrooms, opium, MDMA,  Percocet, OxyContin and cocaine and crack cocaine.  I tried anything and everything. But my drug of choice was cocaine and pain meds. I would get to using one to get off the other. At one point I was ordering pain meds from several websites at once. I got so bad at one point with pain meds that I kept a pill crusher and straw within close reach of my bed because I had to snort several pills to get out of bed and get my day started. I went to college got a degree in Psychology but I couldn’t ever really stay sober to use it so I settled for jobs as a waitress, call center and lastly at a bank. I functioned somewhat and  pretty much always had a job. I tried to quit several times by going to doctors and getting prescribed Suboxone and Methadone. I was introduced to Meth when I was about 39 or 40 years old. I liked it a lot, it gave me energy to keep up with all I had going on. I have 3 kids and at that time I had one in college one in high school and one in elementary school. Life in addiction just really started catching up with me after all those years. January 2021, I was arrested with my first felony possession drug charge in TN. It spiraled from there and by August 2021 I had picked up 2 DUID’s and 3 more felony indictments in VA. My children and family had enough.  They found RSM and I came to the program and stayed a short 2 1/2 months thinking I could go back home and stay sober on my own.  Three months later I was back at RSM. I decided I was going to give it my all and just surrender to GOD.  I got inner healing and allowed GOD to take control and I simply just got out of HIS way.  I graduated the program February 2, 2023 and have chosen to stay and do a 6 month internship. RSM has taught me how to have an intimate relationship with Jesus.  I am so thankful for the love that my leaders showed me and how they poured their love for Jesus into my life. My favorite thing about staying as an intern is giving back the love I was given and pouring into the lives of other ladies and watching GOD transform them.

My name is Johnathan Layne and my darkness started very early. When I was 9 or 10 years, my dad gave me something, but it wasn’t a ball glove or a bicycle. It was a pain pill. Now he wasn’t a bad dad or even a bad man. I loved my dad. He was my world. I wanted to be just like him. That was the problem. So with that came growing up in the drug house or, some people might call it a trap house. Now we call it the world, but I just called it home. So growing up in that came drugs, and with drugs comes money, women, and popularity. I was addicted to being popular just as much as I was the drugs. I liked being able to control people and, in that life, when you have the money and drugs, you can control whoever you want. So time goes on and, just a bunch more darkness and drugs are in my life and, Satan is just giving me everything I want so that he can use it to destroy me later. I meet a girl and fall in love, and she gets pregnant. Just to give you an idea of where I was at in the world. I was not ready for a kid and, I knew it. The baby was a son and, he didn’t make it. He dies and, everyone is telling me how sorry they are. But I wasn’t upset I was relieved. I didn’t have to worry about buying diapers. I could buy dope. That’s how awful I was and how tight a grip Satan had on me. So more time passes and, I start to get tired of living this way. You know, I took pills and did dope to have fun and get high. That was all fun and good for a season, but eventually, I got to where I had to take pills and do dope just to get back to normal. For my body to function or just to be able to get out of bed, I had to do drugs first. No one wants to live like that. They just don’t know any other way to live yet. So Kara gets pregnant again with my daughter and, I decide I’m going to change. So I come up with all the wordly solutions. I move out of the drug house, get an apartment, and get myself a job. I am fixing everything on the outside and, I’m not doing a thing for the inside. That never works, I promise. I also get on something called suboxone. Suboxone is a drug they give you to get off drugs, which makes no sense. I will say this about suboxone even if you are the one percent of people that can take it the right way. It’s still not true freedom. I don’t have to have ANYTHING anymore. I don’t even drink coffee anymore. So with all this, I am just an awful person. I put my poor mama through hell, I neglect my kid and her mother, and I do not care about anything but me. That’s what addiction has to offer you. I finally end up in jail with drug and assault charges, and my preacher walks into the jail cell and asks me if I was tired. I said yes, I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. He told me he knew about this place called RSM that was changing people’s lives. I said, let’s do it. I came up here, and within two days of being here, I got saved and baptized and fixed everything on the inside this time. Ever since then, God has been blessing me to death. Not only is my four-year-old daughter waiting on her daddy, but God has also blessed me with another beautiful baby girl. My mama has never been more proud of her son. My kids’ mother has got saved and gave her life to the Lord since I have been at RSM because she saw how good God is working in my life. God has shown me my calling in life, which is to teach God’s word and help drug addicts who are just like I was. Luke chapter 2 says, ”I must be about my father’s business”. That’s what I am going to do. Whatever God wants me to because He saved my life. I should be in hell with my back broke right now. But I’m not because of His grace and mercy. I give Him all the honor, glory, and praise for it all. I thank Jesus every day, and I thank RSM for introducing me to Him!

My name is Chad Bryant, I am 31 years old and was raised here in Elizabethton. At an early age I had things happen to me that caused a lot of pain in my life. I didn’t know how to deal with it so I started searching for ways to numb the pain I was feeling. At the age of 12 I got into some of my parents medication. I liked the way it made me feel but didn’t know it was a temporary solution.I was raised in church all my life. I had very good parents that taught me the way I should live but I choose the ways of the world over the ways of God every time. If I was feeling an emotion I didn’t like I would take nerve pills and pain medication to numb it, and it only got worse as I got older.I met my wife when I was 16 years old our relationship was good in the beginning, but as I got more dependent on drugs my life would get much worse until I let the drugs consume each and every thought I had. By the time we were married I had a job, but I spent every dime I made on drugs.I turned to Suboxone because I thought it would help but it only made my addiction much worse. The thing about addiction is you never get enough to satisfy the emptiness and hopelessness you feel on the inside.You just keep taking the drugs and soon just taking them was not enough any more. I turned to iv drug use.When i had my son I really thought and believed I could turn my life around but addiction had such a hold on me it only got worse.With the shame of being a terrible father and husband my drug use had made me so self centered that I would even take from my family just to get my next high. Throughout this entire time, my family and wife who had put up with the way I was living for 14 years only wanted me to get better. They tried everything to help me.My wife constantly prayed for God to change me.I truly believe God put her in my life to pray for me and help lead me to Jesus.It had got so bad that my parents lost hope and my wife was ready to give up on me, she had filed for divorce. I decided it was time to try something different recovery soldiers ministry had came to my church a few years before and done a testimony service.I sat there with long sleeves on hiding the marks on my arms wanting so bad to have what they had. I called my pastor and he got in touch with RSM. On September 13th 2021 I went with the intention of trying it for a couple of weeks and coming home so I could say I tried. When I got there and saw what God was doing in the life of the people there it changed my mind.The lord got ahold of me. I started digging into his word, I saw how much he truly loved me. I gave my life to Jesus and have been living for him ever since. He gave me hope and brothers to help me along the way. He showed me I could have a true purpose in him and what I thought was only gonna be 2 weeks God turned in to a year and a half. I have completed the program and almost through with the 6 month internship and I transition to a staff member in a couple of weeks.God has restored my marriage that was over before I came and showed me what it truly means to be a godly husband and father. I have been living at home with my wife and son since I graduated 6 months ago and my marriage and relationship with my son is better than ever before. I am so thankful for God using this ministry as a tool to change my life and the lives of countless others I have seen since I have been here.It is truly amazing what god will do once you submit to him.I would like to thank my wife for sticking by my side all those years that I was in addiction and all the prayers she prayed for me. More than anything,I would I thank Jesus Christ, for saving me and taking the mess I made of my life and turning it around, to use for his kingdom.I’m thankful to recovery soldiers ministry for leading me to Jesus and allowing me to continue to work there so I can help lead others to him.

I am from Big Stone gap Virginia, which is where I lived most of my life. I had parents who were alcoholics, used drugs and fought a lot when I was growing up. So chaos was definitely a normal way of life for me. I was taught that when you experienced stress or you were tired or needed energy, there was always a pill that would help. I had two children in my 20s and was prescribed Percocets to help with the pain from having two cesarean surgeries. It was during those years when I realized I had a physical dependency and didn’t like the way I felt without them. So for the next 10 or 15 years, I was what I considered a functioning addict even though the ways I  would obtain the medication I needed was never legal until I was prescribed Suboxone by a doctor. That’s when it became popular to admit you were an addict and seek help for it. I was on Suboxone for 12 years and thought I was sober but the physical pain I felt when I tried to stop taking Suboxone was worse than anything I’ve ever experienced. In 2015, I met a drug called methamphetamine. Within five years time it took my home from me, my job, my vehicle, my children. My friends and family all turned their backs on me, because all I was doing was stealing, lying, or manipulating them to maintain my drug habit. I lost my self-worth, my dignity, my purpose , and any hope I had for a future.. I was constantly in and out of jail. Never had a place to stay longer than a week, and was spiraling deeper into a horrible pit of self destruction and darkness. And after running from the police for 2 years due to serious criminal charges I had obtained along the way bc of the people I surrounded myself with and the terrible things I was doing, I finally got arrested. I was put in jail in a city where I didn’t know a single person, I was scared and didn’t know the next time I would see my children or feel the sun on my face. Because I was facing a lot of prison time. Thats when I called on the name of the Lord, and threw my hands up and asked for His help to save me from myself. I was reading a book in a jail cell, and because of that book, I prayed the sinner’s prayer and asked Jesus to come into my heart, and be Lord of my life forever. It seemed everything felt lighter after that, and when I was extradited back to my hometown I was given an opportunity to come to Recovery Soldiers Ministries, through a Peer Help organization that worked with the jail. I came to this program December 30, 2021 and my life has never been the same and it never will be again. I have found purpose again. I now have hope, a future, and most importantly, I found Jesus Christ and he has saved my life. He restored back to me my self-worth and dignity. He broke shackles off my feet and delivered me from all my troubles.  I will spend the rest of my life, singing his praises, and giving God all the glory! Thank you Jesus!! And thank you to RSM!

My name Is Tonya Kincer, I am 41 years old. I was born in Springfield, Missouri, raised in Cheyenne, Wyoming and I am from Kingsport, Tennessee. I was raised by my Dad from the time I was 3 years old. Growing up, I knew who Jesus was and I was in and out of church. My family on both my parents’ sides were Christian and had me in church and learning about the Lord. I started experimenting with drugs when I was 15. I started smoking pot and stayed at that level for along time. I graduated high school and started college. I got into a relationship with the father of my two boys, we got married briefly, before we divorced; our relationship was off/on for many years. I went to King College and got my RN, BSN in nursing and practiced for ten years. During this entire time, there were periods in my life where my addiction had a bigger or smaller part of my life. It was a first priority, and all other things took a backseat to getting high. I felt like for years, I was a functioning addict. The boy’s dad always made sure that whatever happened, I would be intact to take care of the boys and I could still practice nursing. When I get asked what my drug of choice was my explanation is always: it’s a shorter list of what wasn’t. My children have always been aware of what was happening I was honest with them about my addiction, and they lived with it daily. So when my addiction took me to a point where I had to have it to function as a ‘normal person’; it consumed me, the pills, the drinking and then the kicker for me was when heroin got ahold of me. I remember my boy’s dad looking at me and said we needed to do something about this…like find a way to quit. I remember thinking: what this drug is like my best friend?! Why, what?! It had totally consumed me, and I hadn’t realized that at that time. My dad, aunt and uncle got to a point where they couldn’t continue to allow me around, I lied, manipulated and stole from them. My in-laws would also help pick up the mess. I allowed the drugs to consume every aspect of our lives. Then I tried methadone to get off the ‘H’ and became a heavy drinker, the boys and their dad got to where they wanted nothing to do with me and they cut me out of their lives too. I fell into a deep depression and, at a time when I should have turned to God, I ran headfirst into my addiction I threw my hands up, and my morals and values out the door. I spiraled out of control and methamphetamines, heroin and alcohol consumed my thoughts, actions and using was the drive and motivation of my life. My mom, sister and niece tried to help me during this time the best way that they could in their own ways. I was introduced to RSM a year before I made the decision to come, it was a year before that seed took root and started to sprout. I had got to a point where I was catching charges for my reckless behavior; I was deemed incompetent to practice nursing; and my children would not look at me, speak to me or acknowledge me. My family begged me to go to a 30-day rehab, said they would support me, and I refused. Now I see it was pride that kept me from it and wrong thinking. I got to a point where I was homeless and doing dumb things to ‘get by’. The Lord laid it on my heart that I needed to come to RSM. What else did I have to lose?! A year to work and focus on the Lord and my relationship with Him?! It could only be good because what I had going on was not working. My ways are bad, and He has used all things for His good! Today, I have this personal relationship with Him; first and foremost, that I always thought was so far off and unattainable. Being here, I have gained this whole family in Christ! With people who encourage me to do better and grow in a God- centered positive way! My God has restored my family to me, and He is moving mountains no person could do! I am on my way to getting my nursing license back and I have been sober for 14 months and counting. I praise His Holy Name, it is only by Him, through Him and because of Him and His love that any of this has been possible! My God, my Rock in whom I find my shelter and refuge! My stronghold and the horn of my salvation! My Savior, you save me from violence. I call upon the name of the Lord, who IS WORTHY to be praised!