Larry lay by the bus-stop, drunk out of his mind. Two girls walked by, saw him lying there and went to a nearby gas station, bought some gas, poured it on him and set him on fire.

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He lived. But it took a long time to recover in the hospital. The pain was intense, but Larry says that it wasn‟t as bad as the pain of living under the domination of alcohol.

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“Even while I was drinking, I would cry out to God to deliver me. I just couldn't stop.”

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But as he lay in the hospital he knew things were different with him. God had kept him alive. When he was released, he went to a treatment center for awhile and then to Hope Street, feeling that he needed to be with others who knew God.

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“I didn‟t come to Hope Street for the cheap rent.”, he says, “I came because I wanted to live - to live a new life.”

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“I've tried to fight addiction all my life. I was even a counselor for other alcoholics. I remained sober for seven years but then I fell back. Now I know why I failed. I hadn't taken Step 3 of the 12 Steps personally. That's the one that says, “Turn your life over to God as you understand him to be.”

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“Now I know I cannot get through the day without the help of Jesus Christ. I trust him for everything.”, Larry admits.

“I remember the day that I made that final decision. I was staying at Hope Street and waiting for a bus to go to work when eight men jumped out of a van and started beating me. One of them used a hammer. Someone interfered and they ran off, leaving me bloody so I went to the hospital.”

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“As I came back to Hope Street, I thought to myself, 'I've been burned alive; I've been beaten with a hammer; I have very good reasons to drink again. But I'm not going to. I'm going to serve God instead.' And that‟s what I do.”

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We are grateful also that God kept Larry alive.