Dear Friend of Damascus Way:

This past Christmas, Van Cook sat with the other residents of Damascus Way around our tree. This was his first Christmas celebration in 8 years. You see, he had been serving 8 2 years in a Minnesota state prison.

When Van was growing up he heard about Jesus and salvation often in the southern Baptist church his family attended. He said he had prayed to accept Jesus as his Savior once when he was 12 years old but he really didn't know much about who Jesus was or what meaning Jesus had for his life. At age 17, Van walked away from the church and his family=s teaching altogether. He spent years drinking, using drugs, pimping, stealing and living a fast, wild life. In 1989, however, his life style caught up with him and it all came crashing down around him. He was arrested, convicted and sent to prison to serve some hard time.

Van was only in prison a few days when he repented of his sin and asked the Lord for forgiveness. He began reading his Bible for hours each day in his cell and became friends with several chaplains and other Christian brothers he met within the prison. He said that because of his upbringing he always knew the Lord was there but he had resisted the Lord because the things of this world had looked so good to him until they turned on him and almost destroyed him.

Van has found a church in St. Paul that he will be attending after he moves out of Damascus Way. However, because of transportation problems he has currently been attending a church close to Damascus Way with the other men at the house.

Most of Van=s family are out of state so he spends much of his free time at the Damascus Way facility. Without his family to help him it is taking him a little longer to get set up to leave than for most of the men with families in the area. Van entered Damascus Way in October of 1997 and even though he has successfully graduated the program it has taken him some time to prepare for his move out. His employment future now looks promising. He is being trained to be a manager in the produce warehouse where he is currently employed. He said it is tough starting over financially with only the clothes on his back. Pray for Van. He is a good brother in the Lord and we are all proud of him and encouraged by his testimony of Jesus working in his life.

Speaking of finances, April begins our new fiscal year and the challenges of meeting our financial responsibilities for another year. Those of you who give financially to Damascus Way have a vital part in the success of this ministry to the men we reach. Your gifts both big and small are important to us. Without those gifts we would not be in business. Please consider Damascus Way again this year in your monthly mission giving. We are a local ministry and compared to many in the country we have relatively few friends who give to our support. We are faithfully reaching out to a very needy group of men, mostly from Minnesota, many of whom would not be staying out of prison or following Jesus if it were not for Damascus Way. Thank you in advance for your prayer and giving.

Rev. Dick Harden, Director

Damascus Way Reentry Center Inc.