BCS_111424_LQ

http://www.thebattlecreekshopper.com BATTLE CREEK SHOPPER NEWS Thursday, November 14, 2024 13

See LIFE on 14

SAVED

Continued from Page 12

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FK-56229_11-14_BCS_Ent_4.625x9.75.indd 1FK-56229_11-14_BCS_Ent_4.625x9.75.indd 1 11/5/24 11:05 AM11/5/24 11:05 AM

Matt Jones, left, talks with The Haven of Rest Ministries Executive Director

Daniel Jones. Photo by John Hendler.

gave me an opportunity to save my
life.
During his early days at The
Haven, Jones said he was not inter-
ested nor ready to receive the help
and opportunities that were being
offered to him.
“I just sat there and stared out the
window, not buying into anything,”
he said. “One day, there was a lady
named Ms. Ginger who was running
a class and she called me out for
staring out the window. They were
going to hold me accountable. It was
the greatest day of my life when I
realized that I wasn’t that important;
that the world didn’t stop or didn’t
revolve around me. I started working
on some things. I ended up getting
my ex-wife into the woman’s life
recovery program and she got clean.
Eventually I walked out of drug
court with no sanctions. The greatest
thing that happened when I came in
here was this place loved me until I
was able to love myself.”
And along the way at The Haven,
Jones said he made relationships that
he said he wouldn’t trade “for any-
thing in the world.”
“Even though I’m now working at
the Share Center, I’m able to come
in here at any time; I’m welcome
with open arms,” he said.
Besides staying clean since his
arrival at The Haven in 2017, Jones
said the ministry helped him to

become closer to the Lord.

“They also help you find out who

you are,” he said. “That’s another

one of the tools that I’ve taken away

from this place: to be firm because if

you don’t stand for something you’ll

fall for anything.”

And today, Jones works with

people who today are where he was

in 2017.

“We have a lot of the same

guests at the Share Center as at The

Haven,” he said. “I absolutely see

myself in a lot of those people; the

people I used to get high with. I

know people that wouldn’t party

with me because I partied too hard;

that’s the god’s honest truth.

“The sickness of drugs is every

time you hear about one of your

friends dying, you want to go find

that same dope because you knew

it was a good stuff. That’s the crazy

part about all this; it’s all risk-

reward. You knew what the risk was

and I let heroin become my lord and

master. I lost my first son to the state

of Michigan due to my drug use.

You can’t raise a 16-month-old baby

under the bridge. I used to think I

was an amazing dad. I realized that

getting high is a form of child abuse

and child neglect. That was a tough

pill to swallow.”

Today, Jones is proud to say that

he is a good dad.

“I am a single parent, so everything

I do is to help my son become the