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Darrin Took “the Long, Hard Route...

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But there was no family at Darrin’s graduation. No wife. No kids. No loved ones. “I remember the party after the ceremony, seeing everyone else’s family and friends. I walked outside and looked up at the cross and finally realized it was just between me and God.”

Darrin had been in detox several times. And he’d heard about the Market Street Mission. But he decided “praying all the time and going to Bible study” wasn’t for him. But no other program had room for him. It had to be the Market Street Mission.

“I told them when I came that I would be gone in two weeks to go to another program that would be open then,” Darrin says with a grin. “And I remember them coming to me and saying, ‘Are you ready to leave?’ And I said, ‘I think I’m gonna give it a try.’ God works in mysterious ways!”

Every morning and every evening, Darrin would read Psalm 91: “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” “I came into this program alone, but that verse gave me inspiration…promises about how God would protect me.”

After graduation, Darrin began working toward his CDA (Chemical Dependency Associates Degree) to become a counselor. Working part-time at a local grocery store, he managed to complete his degree in a year while volunteering here at the Mission and at a local mental health clinic.

By the time Darrin received his bachelor’s degree from Kean University, everyone was there for his graduation – his family, friends from the Mission and members of the congregation from St. Luke Baptist Church where he’s an important member! “This was God’s gift to me,” Darrin says emphatically.

Darrin continued the work he was called to do: being Christ-like and touching people’s lives. He became part of a domestic violence response team in Paterson, NJ; he started speaking at churches about addiction treatment and working with parents whose children were at risk.

Darrin went on to do private counseling here at the same Mission he didn’t want to come to nearly 15 years ago. “I started off here as a client and now, I’m one of the instructors. I started off sleeping on the floor, and now, I have a place of my own. God has taken the dirt and made it into a man!”

Update: Darrin recently received his master’s degree from Fordham University! Praise God!

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