How Mason was Freed from the Binds of Addiction
Seattle's Union Gospel Mission - August 15 2026
You helped Mason find hope and a future
Mason’s earliest memories were of his rough-around-the-edges father. “My old man used to tell me, ‘You make messes, Mason.’”
Soon, Mason’s life became a reflection of those words spoken over him time and again. Mason made messes. Of his marriage. Of his kid. Of his life.
Addiction was a way Mason could cope with the messes he made. While drugs promised to bring peace, they only made Mason’s mess-of-a-life worse.
It wasn’t long until Mason was spending every winter homeless and every summer in prison. Which was worse? He couldn’t really say.
Both experiences felt binding. Like iron bars that couldn’t be cut. A cruel cycle that seemed to have no end.
Mason longed for a life of freedom. But hope — well, that was only met with disappointment. Until his attorney offered him a lifeline — he could do more prison time or enter a recovery program.
The answer to that choice was obvious. Mason chose recovery, and he was released to the Men’s Recovery Program at Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission.
HOPE AT THE MISSION
Mason, if he was honest, didn’t plan to take his recovery all that seriously. “I really wanted to cut and run. But God had other plans,” Mason admitted.
“The first day here, I go to morning devotions and the chaplain was talking about Jeremiah 29:11. I realized that God has a plan for me. His plan is not for me to be running around doing stuff that will put me back in trouble.”
Before long, Mason began to see things differently. “The Mission provided me with a way to get closer to Jesus. I realized that’s what I needed.”
With much prayer, Bible teaching, recovery classes, and counseling, Mason began to clean up his life. Most of all, he learned that only Jesus brings peace to our messes. Left to our own devices, we’ll just make things worse.
FINDING A NEW LIFE
God will make all things new. The Lord changes our inner turmoil and disarray into a display of His glory and goodness!
Today, Mason is giving thanks to God — and to you — for the new life he’s living. A life of freedom and sobriety. A life where God is in the middle, and everything that was once a mess is now being made fresh, clean, and new.
Thank you for helping Mason find a new life — a life with hope AND a future.
