Listen to this article
Mike and his wife were addicted to methamphetamine, struggling to get by with their three children. They couldn’t break their cycle of addiction.
Until one day, when Mike found God while washing dishes in the kitchen at The Salvation Army. His family joined him soon after, and before long they were clean and sober. 23 years later, this is his story.
Below is a transcript of the video edited for readability.
Mike Delgado: Just say “no?” Sometimes it’s hard to say “no.” Especially when you’re an addict. We were doing methamphetamines, me and my wife.
I have a family; my two girls and Michael. We knew other people that were involved in the same stuff, but they had their lights shut off, they had their kids taken away. I said, “We’re not bad, we haven’t had that done to us.” Cause we used to smoke pot at first, and it would be just like, laid back, kick back.
And then you go to speed and it’s a whole different crowd. It’s a vicious crowd because it’s a vicious drug, it’s different. I’m just using, I’m using, using and…And later on it was just meth. Just using a lot of meth.
My wife, she wanted to quit, and then I didn’t want to quit. And then a little went by, I wanted to quit and she didn’t want to quit.
Finally, Cindy was this lady that worked at The Salvation Army, and she was coming to the neighborhood, picking up the kids. I went down there and checked it out and she says, “We need a couple volunteers,” so I raised my hand.
That’s where God started to work on me. I washed dishes and I’d sweat, and water all over, drenched, and it was a good feeling, I was doing something good. And then after that we did it as a family, and it just gave me that self-worth.
Then the next question was “come to Bible study.” We looked at each other like—“boring…” She said, “Just come. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to come back.” So we came. They were talking about reconciliation and we gave ourselves to the Lord. Just that crying, just that cleansing us, God just took it. We felt free. It felt free.
Mike has been faithfully serving and worshipping at The Salvation Army since he got clean over 23 years ago.
Major Mario Reyes: Many people in the Church are not used to people in recovery, and they don’t know how to approach them. We need to learn how to be open to them, and not be so standoffish, because if we don’t welcome them in, where will they go?
Mike Delgado: Like I tell every guy that comes in with addiction, “We love you; God loves you.” “Seriously, in my heart, I pray for you every day, all you guys.” As long as Jesus got a hand in it, man, anything is possible. I should know that, I should know that of all.
Johnny Newell: I was living behind the garage outside, but Mike would try to run me off. So I would try to pick a fight with him. Because I honestly did not believe he’d been anywhere close to where I had been. There was no way.
Do Good:
- See more videos like this in our video feed.
- Are you a Do Gooder, someone who cares about bringing goodness into the life of your family and community? Subscribe to The Do Gooders Podcast to be inspired by those doing good and find tangible tips for simple actions you can take today.
- Did you know The Salvation Army served more than 23 million Americans last year fighting hunger, homelessness, substance abuse and more—all in a fight for good? Where can you help? Take our quiz to find your cause and learn how you can join in today.
Download this page as a PDF
