Faith In Your Recovery Podcast

“You will never (again) walk, talk, write, communicate clearly or function normally." This is what Mike was told after taking a hammer to the head over a $20 deal gone bad. Twenty years of addiction, eight years of homelessness, failed attempts at suicide, several years in the ICU and months of being referred to as “John Doe,” is how he existed before an encounter with God. Mike was at a point phy...

Though his battle with addiction was 30 plus years, Jonny is now nine years clean of all addictive substances. Following years of homelessness in Denver, Colorado, including two years under a bridge, his recovery journey can be traced to its origin on a jail floor. It was during that time that through a jail chaplain he connected with Christ. Jonny believes had it not been for that moment, he woul...

Recognizing that our family of listeners and supporters is constantly expanding, we wanted to introduce A Better Life-Brianna’s Hope and our podcast, Faith In Your Recovery, in a more intimate way. This is the story of how it all began and how we are continuing to support and impact the lives of those journeying the numerous paths to recovery. In this episode, you will find vital information on ho...

2022 Christmas Special- The Sheepherder’s Moment This special Holiday episode is one way we want to thank you for listening and supporting our “Faith In Your Recovery Podcast” where we share all things recovery. Our Christmas message comes from Luke 2:6-20 and is about the experience of the shepherds on that first Christmas morning. We think you will be surprised at the multiple parallels between...

Ep60 Lorra Archibald & Chris Ward On this episode, Randy interviews a former nurse turned prevention specialist, along with recovery advocate, Chris Ward. In this effort to combat the pain and the drain that go with addiction/SUD, Lorra and her team have helped create a community wide effort involving law enforcement, the judicial system, health care, peer recovery coaches and more. As a peer...

2022 Christmas Special- The Sheepherder’s Moment This special Holiday episode is one way we want to thank you for listening and supporting our “Faith In Your Recovery Podcast” where we share all things recovery. Our Christmas message comes from Luke 2:6-20 and is about the experience of the shepherds on that first Christmas morning. We think you will be surprised at the multiple parallels between...

Andy has been knocked down and bounced back more times than many could survive. At age 13, he began drinking after kinder folks left over party stash. He then started using pills to help alleviate his scoliosis pain. Though he was able to put the pills aside, alcohol became his battle. Legal problems, incarceration, broken relationships, isolation, depression, and PTSD related anxieties became the...

Ep58 Mat Pazzarelli part 3 This is the third and final episode of the Mat Pazzarelli story. Mat, aka John Franzese Jr., was a 15-year member of the New York City Mafia. His life was filled with favor, wealth, addiction, major losses, homelessness, and forgiveness. In this episode, Mat shares of his trust in God, renewal of family relationships, his time in the witness protection program and his pr...

Welcome to part two of Mat's life of crime, addiction and forgiveness. In this episode, Mat shares pieces of his fifteen years in the Mafia. Then he tells of his fall into addiction, personal losses, homelessness and moments of recognition of God's intervention. His story goes from a life of lavish living to subway survival and eventually restoration. Mat's open, casual and real approach to his in...

John Franzese, Jr. was a former member of the New York City Columbo crime family and son of New York City's former mob boss, John "Sonny" Franzese, Sr. John's early life was filled with power, privilege, lavish wealth, hanging with notables and was followed by addiction, homelessness and struggle. When John's dad was in his 90's, he made the tough decision to become an FBI informant and his testim...

Donnie Foster gives us a unique approach to discussing addiction and recovery in today’s episode, and we thank him for sharing his story with us. Growing up in an abusive household which led him to burning his house down in an attempt to kill his step-father and step-brother, eventually landing him in a psychiatric facility receiving electric shock therapy. Later he would run away and live on the...

John Humphries’ desire for his girls to have a better upbringing is what helped him steer toward the path of recovery. He tried many different “band-aids” to fight his emptiness which included an array of drugs and the unhealthy relationships that tend to come with them. During one of those attempts, he stood up to walk to his methadone dose but stopped with his arms stretched out to his sides he...

Maurice Kojak Fuller - Episode 53 Maurice Kojak Fuller, Mr. Basketball, of Anderson, IN went from the top of his game as a basketball superstar, living off the addiction of attention from his talents, to prison for seven and a half years. People didn’t know what was going on off the court, that Fuller had his first child by freshman year, his second by sophomore year, and his third by his senior y...

Michael Baer - Episode 52 Although Michael Baer doesn’t have a history of addiction himself, he chooses to be in the business of flipping turtles - the act of coming together with a group of people to help someone “get back on their feet”. After working in ministry and as a science teacher, he realized that he could help others because he could see the signs of addiction festering in these young p...

Kourtney Thompson - Episode 51 At just nine years old Kourtney Thompson had her first taste of alcohol. By the time she was fourteen she was drinking from the moment woke up, until she couldn’t even stand up at night. After witnessing her mother’s abusive relationship, she found herself in one when she tried to make her escape from a neglectful home at just eighteen. She says that she was drinking...

Kristen Smith - Episode 50 Kristen Smith is the Director of House of Shiffra, a transitional house for women struggling with addiction and/or coming out of incarceration. Smith was living in active addiction since she was thirteen; starting out with marijuana and alcohol eventually led her to opiates and eventually methamphetamines. Her rock bottom was when she was living in abandoned houses and s...

Sarah Thomas - Episode 49 Sarah Thomas visited us all the way from Auburn, IN to share her story, because she believes it to be an important thing to dismantle the stigma around addiction for those who battle it, and their loved ones. From starting her addiction journey at 14 years old, blacking out in Juarez, Mexico, to abusing methamphetamines, she finally found sobriety in her early forties. It...

Dean Jewell - Episode 48 Dean Jewell of Indianapolis began his addiction journey when he was just 13 years old, after having a taste of spiked punch. This led to years of daily drinking, experimenting with marijuana, and eventually stealing pain pills from his mother during her battle with cancer. His addiction didn’t slow down when he went to college, and in fact, began his journey with dealing a...

Jeff Williams of Anderson, IN is not only the pastor of Trinity Community Church, but is also the Director of Reclamation Staffing. RS is a Christian based temp agency that aims to connect people with God and those who have a history of incarceration with employers. This 600 hour program has a light at the end of the tunnel that offers those who complete it a full time position with benefits, cont...

Kim Odom woke up and beat her addiction when faced with 30 plus years from several drug related charges and the loss of a close friend to addiction. After participating in a RWI (recovery while incarcerated) program while incarcerated for two and a half years, she’s been able to turn her life around and live a life that she doesn’t want to escape from. Odom is now three years sober, certified as a...

“How can you work with people like that?” Jason Dillman believes that people deserve second, third, even fourth chances to better their lives, and doesn’t agree that the stigma around them means they should be left behind. Working with the Madison County Problem Solving Courts (Drug Court, Reentry Court, and Mental Health Court), Dillman and many others push to help those who have suffered from ad...

Tony Owens has found an inner peace after years of battling addiction with drugs and alcohol. Marijuana was how it began, when he couldn’t get high anymore, crack was his new vice, and in order to get off crack he started drinking. After losing his father to cancer and his mother to suicide, he stumbled in his recovery from marijuana use and found himself at literal “rock bottom” – drunk in a craw...

Joel Lovell - Episode 43b: Joel Lovell of the UK is a full time electrician and works with Pete Lewin Newfoundlands representing their good work with therapy dogs and swims in the US. Growing up without a father in his life, losing a friend in a drunk driving accident, bullying from coworkers that led to a near-death experience, and several suicide attempts, he knew he needed help and a change. Af...

Kelsey Aaron - Episode 43a: Kelsey Aaron of Indianapolis is the Area Director for the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention. After having three generations of suicide, she was finally able to connect with AFSP after hearing the phrase, “suicide prevention,” for the first time in her life at age twenty-five, thirteen years after her father’s suicide. Her mission is to provide the resources for...

John Wilcock - Episode 42b John Wilcock of Newcastle, UK, shares his connection to the FDIC and other rescue organizations in this exciting and educational episode. After meeting Pete Louin, he began supplying water rescue equipment to the FDIC and Pete’s educational program. This program covers water safety and newfoundland dog therapy, helping to rescue people both physically and mentally.