Hope 08

I'd like to bring your attention to a 4 day long event which is happening nation wide from 2nd May to 5th May. The south Wales contingent of this event is localised in Sofia Gardens, Cardiff ( off Cathedral Road ). It's a Christian run occasion which aims to highlight the Good News of Christ Jesus, with events spread around South Wales by day, and a coming together in the evenings at a marquee in Sofia Gardens.

http://www.hope-revolution.com/Publisher/Article.aspx?id=110276

As part of Hope 08, three young people from Cardiff are planning to experience how some people in poverty are forced to live, day in, day out, namely sleeping rough in self made 'shanty towns'. The guys will build a makeshift shelter out of cardboard and tarpaulin, living in it from this Friday through to Monday. One of the guys, Richard, spoke to me earlier today, explaining that their objective is to raise awareness of 3rd world poverty, and at the same time raise money to combat this problem.

I've heard about similar events before, where I'd felt that the people involved were there for the wrong reasons, namely to further their own cause, maybe even because it was something to put on their CV to make them stand out. Talking to Richard, I didn't sense anything of this shallowness I've talked about, I think the guys motives are in the right place, and I wish them well.

It's easy for us all to get swept along in the ups and downs of everyday life, but please take a moment to consider the plight of those less well off than yourselves. People who don't even have the basics such as food, water and shelter. We can all do something to help, it doesn't have to be giving money, it could be something as simple as telling people about this event or giving a little of your time to help others.

Please remember that it isn't just in 3rd World Country's that people are living in poverty, it's on our doorsteps too...

This time next week...

Yesterday was the worst day I've had in a long while, I received some news that isn't totally confirmed, but, if so, could change my whole life. My world was spinning, stomach spasming. I was losing control. What should I do? It was at that moment I made the best decision I've ever made, no I didn't score, I telephoned the girl I love. With her reassurance and guidance I regained control.

As a 'recovering addict,' I've come to realise that previously my natural reaction would have been negative. I would have seized the opportunity and used this as an excuse to have used drugs. Part coping method, part escape. I know from experience that if I had used, my situation would have got a lot worse, very quickly.

It actually turned from the worst day, to a day in which I learned an important lesson. I learnt that it isn't material things that are vitally important in my life. I am not defined by my house, my car, my job, my bank account, my clothes, they are all external, all things that can be taken away, and therefore I shall not put my treasure in them. It's whats inside that is important, vitally so. Nobody can touch that. So take away my money, my health, my job, my material world, in the big picture they are unimportant, they shall fade away in due course anyway, but my spirit shall always be joined with God's, and I will always love. In those places does my treasure Lay, and my treasure has set me free.

Who knows where I'll be this time next week, maybe good, maybe bad, it's actually irrelevant to my internal well being. That's all I need to know!

It's been a while!!

Sorry there's been nothing up for a week. I've moved house, virgin messed up my broadband transfer and I've been painting, drilling, cleaning etc.

Will hopefully be back as normal next week. Thankyou all for your patience, Kev

Is there a God??? - Part 1

This was a question that I had decided I knew the answer to through my teenage years. Only I was in control of my destiny, of course there wasn't a God. I was an atheist, and quite happy with it.

By a few years later an element of doubt had crept in, I was living in a hostel with a drug addiction for company and was struggling with life. A guy called Wayne worked at this hostel, he was a young guy and easy to get on with. He'd take us to play 5-a-side football, out for coffee, that kind of thing.

Wayne was a christian, wasn't too pushy, but then again he didn't hide it either. Sometimes he'd tell me about what Jesus had done for him, changing his life for the better, and that Jesus also loved me and wanted to change my life too. He said Jesus loved me, always had, always would. I found this very hard to believe. How could he love me, when I hated myself? This couldn't be right! I was an heroin addict, what did God, if he existed, want with me? But I was intrigued.

There was a Gideon Bible in my room and I started to read it a little. I came across a passage in one of the Gospel books, I know now it was Mark 2:17. In it Jesus explains the kind of people he's come to save,

"On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

If there was one thing I was certain about, it was that I was a sinner! When I read that I realised that Jesus did love me, and even loved me enough to die for me!

I had to speak to Wayne right now! I ran around until I found him, "I want Jesus, and I want him now", was all I could say. He asked me a few questions, was I ready to turn away from the sin in my life? YES! Was I prepared to put effort in to changing with God's help? YES! Would I proclaim Jesus as my Lord and Saviour? YES! We prayed together and it was like a great weight was lifted off my shoulders. Before, I'd always had an internal mental feeling that my head, if described in a picture, was a great big jumble of knotted string, it almost hurt when I closed my eyes. But now that was gone, something had definitely changed within me!

But, for the next 6 years my life was to get a lot harder. Was there a God??? I still wasn't completely sure.....

Follow up - Drug users are not dirty

Yesterday I received a number of anonymous comments, over a short period of time. Each of which was strongly in opposition to my earlier posting "Drug users are not dirty". While I replied collectively with my own comment I thought it right and proper to raise this issue directly in a blog, so that everyone could have the opportunity to read these comments and reply with their own views. Please use the link provided to read the post and it's comments, and let me know your thoughts, thank you.

http://kevrecovery.blogspot.com/2008/03/drug-users-are-not-dirty.html

Recovery-snakes and ladders:part 3

It was about 6 hours later when I regained consciousness, I was alone, it didn't look like anybody had been near me. I was absolutely gutted, what was I still doing alive? This could not be possible, I'd injected enough to kill a horse! I decided to walk up to the A&E hospital, not to actually go to A&E but to jump off the top of the car park there. I wanted the immense pain that my life had become to end, and it was the closest high building. A couple of hours later I was 7 storeys up. Looking down, I found that I couldn't jump. I was used to sticking needles in my arm but I'd never jumped from 70 feet before. It scared the shit out of me! I kept drifting in and out of consciousness so I decided to sit on the edge of the thin parapet thinking that the next time I lost consciousness I would just fall off. But, I kept on waking up, still there. This went on for hours and hours until I thought this isn't going to happen, I might as well get down. My problems now were even worse, I'd stolen the money I used to buy the gear from a friend, thinking that my end would justify the means I'd used. I was a complete failure, I couldn't even kill myself and now I'd stolen from a friend, something I'd never done before and now regretted. I didn't know what I was going to do, my options had run out. I was desperate and lonely.

'Shooting gallery' encourages users to get treatment

I read with interest Monday's Daily dose which highlighted a story from Vancouver, Canada, about a supervised injecting site which was recently reviewed by an expert advisory committee commissioned by Health Minister, Tony Clement to decide whether or not the site was having favourable results in the community it serves. The committee of experts in addictions, mental health and criminology reported that the site is well supported in the local community, provides good value for money, doesn't increase crime rates or drug use, actually encourages drug users to get treatment and necessary vaccinations, and also reduces overdose rates.

Researcher Dr Thomas Kerr commented,

"Overall, the report is very positive and confirms our research that the site is doing what it's supposed to do -- provide health benefits without increasing harm," said Kerr, a researcher with the Centre for Excellence on HIV/AIDS. "Now it's time for the federal government to honour the findings and stop asking if this program should remain open."

Sounds like a good result to me! A friend of mine works in a direct access, front line hostel as a support worker. In a recent conversation he mentioned that the charity he works for has investigated the possibilities of opening the same kind of facilities here. Their findings were that it was possible, legally, to do this here. Over the last two years, in this hostel alone, I know personally of 5 people who have died from overdoses while secretly injecting. This kind of initiative would have saved their lives. Addiction is about life and death, it's that serious, and it's time a radical new approach is sanctioned to minimise the harm caused to substance misuser's, so that they will still be alive when all the pieces fit together for their recovery. Could 'shooting gallery's' be that radical new approach?