Home Up

 

01/11/2000

Dear Friends of Damascus Way:

 At the Damascus Way Christmas party (so many of you gave time and money to make the party possible!)  I asked the men how many were not familiar with the Christmas story from the Bible.  I was totally amazed when at least three said they had never heard the story of Christmas.  The three men were new at Damascus Way.  One told me he remembered that someone gave him a Christmas gift when he was about 10 years old, but never had Christmas again after that. 

 Christ was only a swear word. 

We weren't playing favorites but that one man with a good job had asked that his share be given to Dave. Dave is unable to work and has no family.

 I had talked several times to the young man who gave up his gifts but didn't know much about him beyond that.  I asked his caseworker to fill me in on this guy who wanted to make Dave's Christmas special...

 His name is Austin Johnson.  His dad was an alcoholic. When his dad wasn't working, he was watching television. When he wasn't watching television, he would sometimes beat one of his nine children or his wife. His mom was pretty much non-functional. The kids did most of the work around the house. It was in this family setting that Austin Johnson first learned about relationships, God and self esteem.

 Austin was the fourth child. His father insisted that Austin be the best and the toughest. When he didn't measure up, he was beaten. The other details of Austin's upbringing are not pretty. He was sexually abused and engaged in self-abusive behavior. All he knew about relationships is that they were painful.

 Austin dropped out of school, left home at age 15, and established a reputation for being tough. He had studied martial arts and would pick someone from a group to beat up. That would guarantee his survival on the streets. Although there were successes - he completed his GED and took courses in Culinary Arts - Austin continually measured himself in terms of physical strength.

 As a child, the family went to church occasionally. Austin remembers learning about the Ten Commandments in Sunday School. He said he A tuned out at A thou shalt not lie because he had seen such pervasive lying at home. He was confused; how could there be a God if his dad was beating up his brothers and sisters and wife? Looking back, Austin knows that God helped him to survive and, despite everything, instilled in him a sense of right and wrong.

During the next several years, Austin married, divorced, remarried his ex-wife and divorced again. Four children were born. Also during these years, Austin was in and out of prison for theft, drinking, sexual assault and physical assault. Austin arrived at Damascus Way on November 3, 1999. His life here has been dramatically different.

When Austin was a child, his family sometimes went to Augustana Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis. Now, living at Damascus Way, he went again. An elderly man came up to him, the Rev Bill Berg. Pastor Berg recognized Austin and asked him about his family. He also discerned that Austin looked like he needed to talk. Pastor Berg brought him to Pastor Don Rasmussen. Talking with Pastor Rasmussen, Austin began to understand that being a Christian doesn't mean being perfect. Instead, he was loved and could be forgiven. When that burden of measuring up was lifted from him, Austin felt clean and free. The past no longer exists for him. He may still be on parole but spiritually he is a new creation.

 Much has changed in the last six weeks. Austin now treats people as if they were Jesus.  He has learned to deal with his anger by asking himself how God would handle the situation. He can now accept his failures.

 When Austin was in prison, Angel Tree (a program of Prison Fellowship) provided Christmas gifts to his children. This Christmas, Austin came to the staff at Damascus Way to request that the money which would have been spent for him be spent instead on another resident without a family. Austin knows what it is like to be in need; now he knows how to be generous.

For the men of Damascus Way,

 Dick Harden, Director

Damascus Way Reentry Center Inc.

 P.S. Because of the year-end gifts from our friends during December and the first few days of January we have gained $10,000 on our shortfall for the year, but we are still down by $18,000.  We will need some generous help these next few weeks to get back into the black. We are also in need of a passenger van to be used in transporting the men to church and other activities.