My “Mugshot”
My name is Melissa Clark.
I was born into a family of addicts and alcoholics on both my mother and father’s side. I have endured all forms of abuse: physical, emotional, and even sexual. I started using narcotics as early as 12 years old. Drugs were my way of numbing myself from the PTSD of past abuse and my mother’s suicide when I was 10 years old.
For years, I used drugs and floated through life with no stability. As an adult, the consequences of my actions finally caught up with me, which included spending several years in prison. After prison, I tried to clean up my life and during that time my twin sister overdosed on heroin. Instead of turning to drugs as I would have in the past, I started really focusing on my sobriety. I wanted out of that way of life.
I went through a year-long residential program and started working at their thrift store. After 5 years, in 2018, I parted ways and found a job at The Saving Way. I loved being part of a ministry that seemed so genuine. Everyone who was a part of the His Way program and the thrift stores seemed to know that they were working to glorify Christ and to love and help heal the broken.
Life After Jesus Destroyed My “Mugshot”
During my time at The Saving Way, I slipped up in my recovery and fell very hard. I was fired from my job and didn’t take the loss very well. I turned to heroin once again to numb my feelings and in less than five months, I found myself back in the county jail facing new charges.
The people I met through The Saving Way left an imprint on my heart and I knew they could help me finally heal, especially with my separation from Christ. After my first court appearance, I reached out to Greta Ashburn and told her exactly how I had messed up.
I got my job back at the thrift store and joined the ReDiscovery program for women and for the first time in my life, I found a group of women I knew I could trust and that loved me no matter what I done in the past. It took a few setbacks in the beginning of the program for me to let my walls down and truly surrender, but when I finally did, it didn’t take long to feel the peace and strength of Christ…something I hadn’t felt since I first acknowledged Christ many years ago before my sister passed away.
I am proud to be the first female graduate from the ReDiscovery program and I will forever be grateful for the second, third, and fourth chance I have received from His Way. I hope to be able to give back and to show the same love and acceptance that I received in the future with other women through this program.
His Way Recovery’s Programs
Learn more about His Way’s vision to advance Christ-centered recovery as a rallying point that unifies mission-oriented churches and Christians through sharing materials and resources, providing training and proved recovery models, and planting new programs and ministries around the world.