It’s been 18 years since I met Mel Novak. I have to thank him for his thankless service to Christ in preaching at the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles. That is where I met him and heard him preach. Mel preached hope in Christ and that is what I needed to hear.

I came from a middle class family living in the suburbs and never missed a meal growing up. I could attribute my fall from grace to the permissiveness of the 60s and 70s and my parents, but then I would not be taking responsibility for my own shortcomings. I could even blame it on the devil but the Bible says sin started in my heart and then Satan took control. Sin was pretty cool there for a while, it felt good and I felt powerful. But the slide from that to demor­alized despair was a long one. It took 18 years before I was delivered from the bondage of addiction by Jesus Christ. I was so far gone into addiction that I’m sure I was just a couple of shots away from death. I was strung out on Heroin and Cocaine. I was arrested and landed in a jail cell. I was so strung out and sick and had given up all hope that anything could possibly change. After a few days I prayed, “Lord, I know that there is no way you would help me but if you could just give me 5 minutes of peace.” All of my waking thoughts until that time was spent obsessing and thinking about getting high, nothing else mattered. I got to sleep that night and when I awoke, something was different. The desire for the drugs was gone, I was still horribly sick but for the first time in many, many years the obsession was gone and I realized that Christ had delivered me from the bondage of addiction. The power of Christ had overcome the power of the devil and the addiction was broken.

The last 18 years, have been spent in the Grace of God. I have to say that I’m far from being a saint and still a sinner but not like I was back then. Through my relationship with Christ, I’ve been able to stay away from drugs. I started a recovery facility helping hundreds of people in the name of Christ. Mel used to minister there. I met a wonderful woman and have been married for four years and we just adopted a newborn baby boy. I own my own company that is doing very well. I have to say that this is everything that I had prayed for. I turned to God and He turned back touching me with His love, increasing my faith, and blessed me beyond my expectations.

Mel needs to do this work. He has had a calling for so long that he must be getting spiritual help from our Lord. I know that watching the same people over and over again on skid row, in jails and prisons, has to wear him out. Of course, we know who strengthens him. I encourage you to help him financially, too. I know he has given up so much to do this work. Mel could have been a rich man of money now, but he has chosen to do the very important work of being Holy Spirit led preaching the Word of God to those walking wounded who need the Lord. Please help Mel to continue. I know that without him, I may not have made it.