By Victoria Ostrosky
God chooses to use some of the most broken people to accomplish His wonderful agenda of salvation. The Apostle Peter, for example, was tough, brash and confident. And because Jesus knew what Peter needed to learn, He allowed Satan to sift him as wheat. Not to demean him, but to show him that he was nothing without God. Peter would go on to be a charter member of the new ecclesia of God. God orchestrated Peter’s first sermon on the Day of Pentecost to save 3000 souls. And the church was born. Peter, now laser-focused, was used mightily by God to bring the good news to, mainly, his Jewish brothers.
The Apostle Paul, formerly Saul the Pharisee, spent his every waking moment hunting down followers of The Way to put them in prison and have them executed. His zeal for the Law took him down the false path of works until Jesus knocked him off his donkey. He was given a heart of flesh for his heart of stone, then spent the rest of his life hunting for the lost, mainly Gentiles, delivering the good news of the Gospel, and writing most of the New Testament, with many of those letters written while in prison for preaching the Word.
Most of us either know someone personally or know of someone whom God broke completely so He could make them into a vessel fit for His use.
Eddie Mansfield was born and raised in Kentucky in a Christian household with a praying mom (we’ll come back to that later). Eddie wasn’t really into Christianity, and, as he says, “I veered away from anything that looked like Christianity.” Eddie personified the typical teenage rebellious attitude, and, in his case, began drinking and smoking marijuana. “I had a progressing drug problem. I went to 7 rehabs and moved to different colleges wasting time and partying.”
Drug use often accompanies arrests and jail time. Eddie’s lifestyle played out the same. By the time he was 38 he “had a messed up life, in and out of trouble.”
When Eddie was finally, completely broken, and ready to listen to God’s voice, he was once again in jail. A bunkmate, with whom he used to be friends in the drug world, suggested they do Bible studies while they served their time. They started in the Gospel of Mark. During Eddie’s 7 months in jail, his praying mom began having a recurring dream about her son running a faith-based program for people in recovery. She believed God was doing something in Eddie and had faith that God would change him.
That was the end of 2006. In 2011, Eddie says,”[I] realized my mom was right and started to see the vision she had. The Lord has given me the opportunity to help people like me.”
Path of Grace, a faith-based transitional village in Freeport, opened in 2009. This place of healing specializes in helping women achieve lasting sobriety with, among other important things, therapy, both single and group, Bible studies and work assignments. The highly structured program is for 16 – 24 months.
Eddie has something specific to say to the addict: “There’s a better life – give God a chance to help you and change you. When you’re high, you’re in another world and don’t realize until you’re free for a bit that you’re hurting. There’s freedom on the other side. Get in a Christ-centered program.”
Eddie is currently the Managing Director at Path of Grace, overseeing many women’s lives being forever changed by Jesus. “God can take someone so messed up and turn it to good. I’m a firm believer that God has done all this. He’s restored the years the locust has eaten.”
You can listen to Eddie Mansfield’s entire interview and many other incredible stories on the weekly Road to Redemption radio show and podcast at www.rtrdestiny.com.
Author: Sowal Editor
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