“The Salvation Army Saved My Life”
Jim Christiansen was about to lose everything. His boss had told him to take an extended leave of absence. His wife, Martha, was about to leave him. His five children had lost all respect for him. His family was deep in debt. And even though Jim wasn’t yet 50, he’d already had a heart attack.
All because of his excessive drug use.
Jim’s substance use disorder started when he was a teenager and his mother’s anger and constant criticism became too much. He began sniffing glue to numb the emotional pain, then moved on to marijuana and alcohol. When his daily habit of snorting coke brought on nose bleeds, he moved on to crack cocaine. That’s what brought on the heart attack. But even that health scare didn’t deter him.
Such is the siren call of drugs.
A Life Saved
While Jim struggled, two of his children got involved in a youth group at a local Salvation Army church. When the youth leader learned about all the family was facing, he suggested Jim go to a Salvation Army rehab facility. At the brink of losing everything, Jim knew he had to do something.
On February 28, 2003, Jim’s wife and one of their daughters drove him to an Army Adult Rehabilitation Center in Waukegan. When they dropped him off, he didn’t go in. Instead he wandered down the street to the neighborhood bar for a few last rounds. Roaming the streets that night, he caught a glimpse of where his current path was taking him – alone, directionless and lost. That image finally moved him to walk into the rehab facility.
“I met Jesus in that place,” Jim said. “And all the shame and guilt left. I almost felt guilty for not feeling guilty about all I’d done. But for the first time in a really long time I felt hopeful.”
Jim spent several months in the facility, detoxing, facing his past, and transforming his future. “It was a work program, so it didn’t cost me a dime,” Jim said. “I mean, it cost someone. But The Salvation Army took me on. They saved my life.”
A Family Repaired
Not everything was that quick to heal. “The hardest part of rehab was not knowing the future,” Jim said. While he knew the change in his life was real, his wife Martha was in disbelief. “I’d lied to her so much. I’d stolen out of her purse. I didn’t think the day would come when she would trust me again.”
Jim moved in with his sister while Martha and their kids moved into a small apartment, since his excessive spending cost them their house. Within a few months, some of the kids went to visit their dad and came back home with excited stories about how he had changed. He was kind. He didn’t swear anymore. He’d started attending church.
As this positive behavior continued, Martha slowly got back in touch with Jim and eventually forgave him. Trusting him came slower. When he would go to buy groceries, Jim would see the panic in her eyes. “She wanted to come with me to make sure that’s what I was really buying,” he said. “I knew she finally trusted me when she gave me the debit card to go get groceries.”
Jim and Martha have now been married for 42 years. “My grandkids had been afraid of me; now they love me. My kids had lost all respect for me. I’ve been given all that back. My kids have accepted Christ through my example.”
Sixteen years later, Jim is still clean, and still close with this family, a fact he doesn’t take for granted. “I’m now the husband, father and grandfather I wasn’t before,” he said.
A Community Impacted
“When I see the photo of when I first went in – eyes dark and lifeless, face drawn and thin – I don’t believe it’s me,” Jim said of his life before rehab. Jim, now 64, works hard to help others who need that same life change. He readily shares his story and has taken others to rehab.
“I try to do the best I can to help others, especially married men with kids,” he said. He knows how much they have to lose. He almost lost it all himself.
Martha now works as a secretary for The Salvation Army Crossgenerations Corps Community Center in Blue Island, and Jim owns and runs a Beggar’s Pizza in Oak Lawn, Illinois. Two of their children work for him. As a local business owner, Jim does what he can for the community and schools. “I want to be a good neighbor,” he said.
That generosity has been noticed. After Jim had donated food to a local junior high school over the years, they decided to honor him by donating the proceeds of their annual walkathon to his favorite charity: The Salvation Army.
“They’d heard me talk about what a difference the Army made for me,” he said. “It’s such a wonderful organization. It saved my life.”
Exactly ten years after he went to rehab, Jim was featured on CBN's The 700 Club:
(video courtesy: CBN's The 700 Club)
Join The Salvation Army's Fight for Good: