For Shalam, there was never a choice. Drugs, violence and crime were all he knew since the day he was born. His parents were outlaw bikers, drug addicts and powerful members of organized crime. As Shalam puts it, "Methamphetamine manufacturing was the family trade." He started using meth at the age of 10! When he came to our doors at the age of 25, he was malnourished, delusional and diagnosed as borderline schizophrenic. He tried to kill himself dozens of times.

But it wasn't until he was kicked out of his home with nowhere to go that he really came to the end of his rope. He was at a crossroads -- death, or a new life in Christ. Fortunately, he chose to call us, and we had room for him in our recovery program at Riverton Place.

Today he's going to school, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Youth Ministry at Northwest University in Kirkland. "I was raised by the devil," he testifies. "Now I want the Lord to raise me up to be one of His best weapons in this world." Like so many of our graduates, his story is inspiring.