“Drugs are a horrible thing. I mean, I’ve hurt my family members, I’ve hurt friends… because I was so self-centered; I was very selfish, and that’s what sin basically is; it turns us into these selfish, selfish creatures that we only care about our wants, needs, desires, whatever. And drugs multiply that by a hundred.

The next day I was alive. I woke up, and it was just on my conscience heavy; “You prayed to God and you asked God, ‘get me through the night, and He did. What are you going to do?’”

Mario thought, “What am I doing with my life? I’ve got no future. I could not see a future for myself; all I could see was darkness, and the blackness of the darkness I felt that it was surrounding me at that moment, I could not even look into the future and say there was anything promising for me, and it was scary, it was scary for me.

When Mario was growing up, he got into alcohol, drugs and trouble like many he knew on the reserve did. With the deaths of two of brothers, Mario began to think that there must be a better way to live. This is his story of how he found it.

I’ve encountered other Native Americans who look at Jesus Christ as the Whiteman’s Gospel – as something that is harmful and hurtful to them. And so they try to leave you with a sense a guilt… “Well how can you be a Native – embrace something that is not Native, that is not of your culture, your background, and heritage? How can a person do that?

The road to recovery can be long. Everywhere he turned there was alcohol. If you’ve ever been there, you know what Chug is talking about. So how did he deal with the temptation and ultimately find victory? Thankfully, he tells us.

After spending the night in jail for a DWI, and with his wife in the hospital after giving birth to their son, the shame and pain of life had become to much for Chug. He began looking for a way to end his life. But something happened that changed his course.

“I remember sitting in the evening at the Silver Spur in Pierre. And I remember looking up and watching the crowd and hearing the music. I could see the smoke. I could see people laughing and dancing and everything going on around them. And I remember so distinctly saying, ‘God I don’t want to live this way anymore… I don’t want to live this way anymore’.”

After surviving abuse in residential school, growing up without a mother, and dealing with alcohol in her own home, Anne had been through a lot. One day, while listening to a Cree Gospel broadcast, she realized that she had a greater issue that needed to be resolved… her relationship with her Creator.