Romans 8:18, For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
My name is Riaan Nieuwenhuizen and I’m a believer who struggles with drug and alcohol addiction. At the age of 15 I had my first experience with alcohol in that I played club cricket and part of the fine committee was drinking beer, I did not realise the effect it would have on me as I grew older. At the age of 16 I tried my first Marijuana joint. The drinking became an every weekend experience with going to clubs hanging around malls and seeing who could get the drunkest the quickest. At school my grades was pretty normal but my passion was playing cricket. My love for the game slowly faded away as I was more interested in being with the “in crowd” and partying. The second time I smoked was the day before my Accounting exam I my matric year, the next day I couldn’t remember anything I learned through the year. After school I went to church every Sunday but quickly craved the attention of being around the scene of drinking and partying which lead to smoking and drinking daily. My life was out of control but with me being hard headed did not take the advice which was freely given to me by my father in that he said to me I am heading down a dangerous road. On New Year’s Eve 2000 I had my first encounter with hard drugs in the form of ecstasy and LSD and so the journey began. From using on weekends turned to using from Thursday right through to Sunday and by the time Monday came I had to drink as I had to just get rid of the hangover from partying. It wasn’t long after that that I was introduced to cat and this drug made me feel understood and that I could just be the extrovert I always wanted to be. This wreck less routine went on for a period of 6 years and came to an abrupt end as I had by this stage taken so called friend for granted and misused them I by this time also didn’t have work and so the friends became few. I stayed clean for a period of three months as I was on my own and one day stopping at a garage had my first encounter with cocaine, as if my life wasn’t in a mess I was hiding behind it as I would deflect and say that I was alright. My usage became a daily thing my life was out of control, I needed to fuel my fire with the drug that I became so in love with, I started stealing from my own family taking my mom’s card and spending their money which they worked so hard for. In 2008 I stole from the wrong person by taking my brother in-laws money which was intended to buy a wooden floor. I came home after using and he was waiting for me at the house, needless to say I got the hiding I deserved, respect was earned. I went into an inpatient rehab for 35 days and in there I only learned more about drugs and this was just an opportunity to get people off my back. Six months of being clean I went out drinking and sure as the sun shines in a day I went back to my drug of choice, I started off right where I left off, back on the downward spiral of manipulation, lying and stealing. I met a girl in 2009 and I thought this is my chance at having a shot at life and break free and be undependable. The relationship started off well and she introduced me to a cat dealer and so I changed back to my drug of choice, it became our lives and we consumed an insurmountable amount of drugs, in a period of 3 months over the festive season from getting a bonus as well as losing my job the next month and getting paid out my pension we spent R100 000. Our lives were falling apart at the seams. I went to I Mighty men Conference and gave my life to my saviour Jesus Christ I felt like I was a changed man, but still I had the yearning of giving in to the flesh and continued using. She gave me an ultimatum, either stop using or she leaves me, I’m sure that any wise person would have chosen to stop. I fell into depression and I was a victim of my circumstance, which I only later learned was by choice. My mom and dad was at their wits end with me and I left home and was now living in my car, the good hearted person that she is my younger sister took me into their home but still I hadn’t learned how to do otherwise and didn’t take the reaching hand that was stretched out to me. I robbed them and still carried on using until coming home one day and my bags was packed ready to be put out on the street again. I reached out to me ex’s father and he told me that Jesus would be my rehab, he gave me a scripture Matt 6:33, “but first seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness and then all of these things shall be added unto to you. I thought what a crazy old man. It is here where my worst time addiction started. I met up with an ex-friend from school and he introduced me to the world of Meth and liquid e. My morals and my values took a back seat as we were robbing garages, road houses just to eat but to name a few. Until he got arrested with my car and it was impounded in the police yard. Now I was left to fend for myself and I started committing fraud by buying goods on other peoples account. I walked out of the one mall still saying that they would never catch me, famous last words. At the very next mall I got arrested and while sitting in a 2X4 I remembered my father’s words ruminating in my head, when you get arrested do not phone me. I spend the weekend in Germiston holding cells and by Monday when court date came I swallowed my pride and phoned my dad to bring me proof of residence. He was too late and I was reprimanded for another 7 days in Boksburg prison. The longest week of my entire life, my sisters was looking for me and when they finally found me and I saw them on the other side of the bars and saw what my addiction had done to their physical and emotional well being a cracked and told the truth of why I was in prison. The next Monday bail was posted and my family paid.
My family took me back in and said it was my final chance and that I would have to enter into recovery, I came to Mighty Wings Life Centre the first night only to see what the program had to offer and by the end of the night I had signed up for one year. I had to learn the hard way by selling my car to pay back my bail and to pay for my recovery. The first three months of my recovery I was just going through the motions and not using all the tools and help that was on offer. I started working the program and really pressed into my relationship with God and joined discipleship on Mondays. It was only at this stage that my life really started to effect change and so a new journey started. I was in a very safe place in that I started working for my brother in-law and with it the opportunity the fix the once broken relationship and also with my older sister. Nine months into the program I was blessed with my old job back but not starting where I left but in a lower position and by doing so humility was taught. I pressed in and 5 months later got the old position back. It was at this stage that I realised that what took me 5 years to build and destroy God had given to me in five months. My walk with Jesus has now become not a religious doing but rather a living relationship. My relationships with all my family members has been restored and I have been given another chance at life, Myself and my dad couldn’t talk one word to each other and now it is a relationship where we can share life. By working the program I have realised that it was my own choices that lead me to the point in my life, I am not a victim of circumstance but a vessel of destiny. The step that has really helped me was step 4 in that I found it to be a step of inward transformation and looking much deeper within and finding freedom. I have learned that some situations is out of my control and that by me changing me others will change around me. By the grace of God He has brought me into a place of being a blessing rather than to take. I realised that I was created for Him by Him to glorify Him and the life I live is not my own. Phil 3:12,”not that I have already obtained all this, or have already reached my goal, but I press on to take hold of which Christ Jesus took hold of me”. By working the program I have overcome financial giants by learning how to work with money, to put others first as they are also humans and that we can work together to finish the race.
To new comers on the program a word of encouragement would be to take the same energy and enthusiasm that was used to obtain the drug of choice and use it to work on yourself. Press in with everything work your stuff, dig deep and never give up as it isn’t an option
My name is Riaan Nieuwenhuizen and I’m a believer who struggles with drug and alcohol addiction. At the age of 15 I had my first experience with alcohol in that I played club cricket and part of the fine committee was drinking beer, I did not realise the effect it would have on me as I grew older. At the age of 16 I tried my first Marijuana joint. The drinking became an every weekend experience with going to clubs hanging around malls and seeing who could get the drunkest the quickest. At school my grades was pretty normal but my passion was playing cricket. My love for the game slowly faded away as I was more interested in being with the “in crowd” and partying. The second time I smoked was the day before my Accounting exam I my matric year, the next day I couldn’t remember anything I learned through the year. After school I went to church every Sunday but quickly craved the attention of being around the scene of drinking and partying which lead to smoking and drinking daily. My life was out of control but with me being hard headed did not take the advice which was freely given to me by my father in that he said to me I am heading down a dangerous road. On New Year’s Eve 2000 I had my first encounter with hard drugs in the form of ecstasy and LSD and so the journey began. From using on weekends turned to using from Thursday right through to Sunday and by the time Monday came I had to drink as I had to just get rid of the hangover from partying. It wasn’t long after that that I was introduced to cat and this drug made me feel understood and that I could just be the extrovert I always wanted to be. This wreck less routine went on for a period of 6 years and came to an abrupt end as I had by this stage taken so called friend for granted and misused them I by this time also didn’t have work and so the friends became few. I stayed clean for a period of three months as I was on my own and one day stopping at a garage had my first encounter with cocaine, as if my life wasn’t in a mess I was hiding behind it as I would deflect and say that I was alright. My usage became a daily thing my life was out of control, I needed to fuel my fire with the drug that I became so in love with, I started stealing from my own family taking my mom’s card and spending their money which they worked so hard for. In 2008 I stole from the wrong person by taking my brother in-laws money which was intended to buy a wooden floor. I came home after using and he was waiting for me at the house, needless to say I got the hiding I deserved, respect was earned. I went into an inpatient rehab for 35 days and in there I only learned more about drugs and this was just an opportunity to get people off my back. Six months of being clean I went out drinking and sure as the sun shines in a day I went back to my drug of choice, I started off right where I left off, back on the downward spiral of manipulation, lying and stealing. I met a girl in 2009 and I thought this is my chance at having a shot at life and break free and be undependable. The relationship started off well and she introduced me to a cat dealer and so I changed back to my drug of choice, it became our lives and we consumed an insurmountable amount of drugs, in a period of 3 months over the festive season from getting a bonus as well as losing my job the next month and getting paid out my pension we spent R100 000. Our lives were falling apart at the seams. I went to I Mighty men Conference and gave my life to my saviour Jesus Christ I felt like I was a changed man, but still I had the yearning of giving in to the flesh and continued using. She gave me an ultimatum, either stop using or she leaves me, I’m sure that any wise person would have chosen to stop. I fell into depression and I was a victim of my circumstance, which I only later learned was by choice. My mom and dad was at their wits end with me and I left home and was now living in my car, the good hearted person that she is my younger sister took me into their home but still I hadn’t learned how to do otherwise and didn’t take the reaching hand that was stretched out to me. I robbed them and still carried on using until coming home one day and my bags was packed ready to be put out on the street again. I reached out to me ex’s father and he told me that Jesus would be my rehab, he gave me a scripture Matt 6:33, “but first seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness and then all of these things shall be added unto to you. I thought what a crazy old man. It is here where my worst time addiction started. I met up with an ex-friend from school and he introduced me to the world of Meth and liquid e. My morals and my values took a back seat as we were robbing garages, road houses just to eat but to name a few. Until he got arrested with my car and it was impounded in the police yard. Now I was left to fend for myself and I started committing fraud by buying goods on other peoples account. I walked out of the one mall still saying that they would never catch me, famous last words. At the very next mall I got arrested and while sitting in a 2X4 I remembered my father’s words ruminating in my head, when you get arrested do not phone me. I spend the weekend in Germiston holding cells and by Monday when court date came I swallowed my pride and phoned my dad to bring me proof of residence. He was too late and I was reprimanded for another 7 days in Boksburg prison. The longest week of my entire life, my sisters was looking for me and when they finally found me and I saw them on the other side of the bars and saw what my addiction had done to their physical and emotional well being a cracked and told the truth of why I was in prison. The next Monday bail was posted and my family paid.
My family took me back in and said it was my final chance and that I would have to enter into recovery, I came to Mighty Wings Life Centre the first night only to see what the program had to offer and by the end of the night I had signed up for one year. I had to learn the hard way by selling my car to pay back my bail and to pay for my recovery. The first three months of my recovery I was just going through the motions and not using all the tools and help that was on offer. I started working the program and really pressed into my relationship with God and joined discipleship on Mondays. It was only at this stage that my life really started to effect change and so a new journey started. I was in a very safe place in that I started working for my brother in-law and with it the opportunity the fix the once broken relationship and also with my older sister. Nine months into the program I was blessed with my old job back but not starting where I left but in a lower position and by doing so humility was taught. I pressed in and 5 months later got the old position back. It was at this stage that I realised that what took me 5 years to build and destroy God had given to me in five months. My walk with Jesus has now become not a religious doing but rather a living relationship. My relationships with all my family members has been restored and I have been given another chance at life, Myself and my dad couldn’t talk one word to each other and now it is a relationship where we can share life. By working the program I have realised that it was my own choices that lead me to the point in my life, I am not a victim of circumstance but a vessel of destiny. The step that has really helped me was step 4 in that I found it to be a step of inward transformation and looking much deeper within and finding freedom. I have learned that some situations is out of my control and that by me changing me others will change around me. By the grace of God He has brought me into a place of being a blessing rather than to take. I realised that I was created for Him by Him to glorify Him and the life I live is not my own. Phil 3:12,”not that I have already obtained all this, or have already reached my goal, but I press on to take hold of which Christ Jesus took hold of me”. By working the program I have overcome financial giants by learning how to work with money, to put others first as they are also humans and that we can work together to finish the race.
To new comers on the program a word of encouragement would be to take the same energy and enthusiasm that was used to obtain the drug of choice and use it to work on yourself. Press in with everything work your stuff, dig deep and never give up as it isn’t an option