Testimonies

This was the place where I felt whole for the first time in my life... I am tired of hurting and of hurting the ones I love.
From a very young age, I learned the effects of alcohol and have struggled with addiction...​ Alcohol became my savior and redeemer.  I knew way more about it than I did of Jesus.  - Randy
My life was always focused on working, getting ahead, getting more and nicer “things” as symbols of my accomplishments... ​During this time I felt that I was in complete control of my life- that I did not need any one’s help. Little did I know that I was living a lie.   - Eugene
A Survivors Testimony
My name is Brad Larson, Mustard Seed Resident, and Teen Challenge graduate.
I have been raised in the Lutheran faith, but it was a youth rally in New Orleans that gave me the belief that Jesus is my Savior.
My life had taken a turn away from the church when I was introduced to the nightclubs and the bars.  I had considered myself to be a functioning alcoholic able to separate work and partying.  It wasn’t until my mother was diagnosed with kidney cancer and lived less than 3 months when I began to abuse my alcohol intake to the point of needing a treatment facility such as Teen Challenge to turn me around to Christ again, here is where I rededicated my life to Christ by being baptized in water.
While a student of Teen Challenge my dad died and the support that I received to help me in his death was tremendous.  Showing me that prayer and guidance from the other students and staff counselors had given me the courage to grieve a proper grief without the aid of alcohol.
One of the requirements of graduating from Teen Challenge was that I needed to find a vocation that would keep me centered on Christ and help me redevelop myself as how Christ views me.  I could not use my home town for this, for the very reason as to the atmosphere that would be an easy draw for me to return to the very life I needed to avoid.  This is where Mustard Seed comes into my life.
Mustard Seed was offered to me as a resource to enter back into a life that would give me the self worth and self assurance that through Christ I can accomplish anything.  This had been successful with one small thorn in my flesh.  I have recently been diagnosed with stage four Colon cancer, currently undergoing a regiment of chemo treatments to battle this thorn. 
Prayers are another strong tool that gives me the spiritual strength I know that I am receiving from a large group of people here in the Clearwater area and through out the world. I thank Mustard Seed for the program that gives hope to the hopeless.
 
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Brad passed away July 2011, may have lost the battle with cancer but did not lose the war.
​​Brad  left this life the way he entered; earlier than most. He was born premature, jaundiced and with a tiny hole in his heart. As he grew up, he did OK in school but didn’t have a lot of friends. He was an easy mark and was often picked on by other kids. As a young adult he struggled with career choices and never found a nitch that truly suited him. During this time in his life he found comfort in a bottle and had friends in the local bars, at least as long as he was buying. Through the grace of God he was pulled out of his destructive life and learned to walk the path of a Christian life. Along this short journey, he made many, many good friends who provided him joy in the last stages of his life.
I don’t know for sure but I would guess that tiny hole in his heart had been filled with love. Though he lost the battle with cancer he did not lose the war. It never broke his spirit. He died rich with friends and love. I would say probably one of the wealthiest of anyone here today.
This was written by Brads brother Robert and read at his funeral July 21,2011