My name is Jeff Shindler. Almost three years ago I decided I couldn’t keep living the way I was. I had been living as an addict for twenty-five years, with the last five years being homeless. I lived under bridges, in fields in a tent, and sometimes under a bush in the park or beside an abandoned building. I did this between three different states, Reno, Nevada, Sacramento and Redding, California and Salem, Albany, Cottage Grove and Eugene, Oregon.
The night I really started thinking I couldn’t do this anymore was a very cold January night. I had the shakes so bad from not having any alcohol that day that I couldn’t even eat my food at the soup kitchen, I didn’t even have any bedding to keep me warm that night. I sat outside the soup kitchen out on the curb and just started talking to God, which I hadn’t done in a very long time. I told God I couldn’t live like this anymore; I told Him I was ready to give everything up to Him. I asked God to help me get out of the situation I was in.
I didn’t have any idea what to expect after asking for God’s help, to tell you the truth I probably didn’t think I was going to get any help from anyone, especially God. I went about my normal routine, which was basically coming up with enough money to get drunk every day.
At this point I had been sleeping under the Washington-Jefferson Bridge in Eugene, OR. This was a very unusual spot, mainly because it was right out in the open. This is where I was when I first met Brian Gonsalves and David Soto. They were interns at the Teen Challenge in Shedd, OR. They were also attending Teen Challenge Ministry Institute (TCMI) in Lebanon. They came down and talked with me and the other people that were there for three Sundays in a row. I never really gave it much thought the first two Sundays. Between the second and third Sunday, something inside was quietly reminding me, “You’re the one that asked for my help, don’t throw it away.” I was in a frantic state of mind trying to make sure that I didn’t miss Brian that third Sunday, I wasn’t going to let him leave town without taking me with him to this place called Teen Challenge.
I got there, and even though I needed a little bit of time to get my head thinking straight, I knew without a doubt that I was exactly where God wanted me to be. It didn’t take me very long to decide that I wanted to attend TCMI when I graduated the program and work for Teen Challenge–helping people that were walking away from their addictions and walking towards God.
I just recently graduated from TCMI and was hired at the Willamette Valley Men's Center in Shedd, Oregon as the Intake coordinator. I love my job, I love my life, but most of all I love God. I wake up every morning and thank God for everything He has done in my life. I can’t even begin to explain how grateful I am to be getting another chance in life.