He Was Sure He'd End Up Dead or in Prison Like His Dad. Today Belony Runs the Home That Saved Him.
Updated: Aug 7
Belony is a graduate of the Rise Discipleship home, and today he is the director of the men's home in Abilene. But when he describes the life he came from, he uses one word over and over: chaos.
He was lost, moving through his days with no aim and no direction, living inside his own head, depressed, watching everything he touched fall apart. He had been clean for a while, walking the right path, and then he fell off track. What he battled most was depression, and he tried to bury it in going out, in drugs and alcohol.
"The lie I believed was that I was unworthy. That this was it, I messed up, there's no coming back. I'm the lost cause, the one that can't be fixed."
The lie about his future was even darker: that he would become the statistic of his environment, dead, in a grave, or in prison, like his own father.
3 A.M.
His lowest night started at a bar, where he nearly ended up in a fight with men who were ready to risk it all, everybody armed. He had a 15-year-old daughter at home and a business going under, and in a split second he was ready to throw it all away too.
He walked home at three in the morning, a stolen U-Haul in his driveway and a rental car he owed three months on, disgusted with himself. He tried to slip past his daughter before she left for school, then lay down to sleep like any other night. But this time he couldn't.
"The Holy Ghost would not let me sleep. I just broke down. It was a weeping from my inner stomach, uncontrollable. I put the music up so nobody would hear me, and I got a notebook and wrote down everything I wanted God to change."
What scared him most was the thought of leaving this earth and having his daughter's last memory of her dad be an overdose, an addict, a prison cell.
The Seed Planted Two Years Early
Back around 2020, Belony had scrolled past a Rise graduation ceremony on Facebook. It was epic, and for some reason he gravitated to it, even though at the time he was thinking about someone else who might need it. He had no idea that two years later, it would be him.
The morning after his breakdown, the first thing the Holy Spirit brought to his mind was that video. He looked up Rise, made one phone call, and a month later he was in Texas.
Small but Mighty
Belony came from South Florida knowing no one in Texas, and yet the moment he arrived, he felt like he knew everybody. The acceptance, the care, the way the brothers kept asking if he was okay, all of it moved him. One small thing especially stuck with him.
"The very next day they went and got me a brush, a do-rag, and some nail clippers. It was small, but it was mighty to me."
After the intake, welcomed by a brother named Daniel Rodriguez, Belony slept in peace for the first time in about two years. The home gave him the one thing his life had been missing most: order. Getting up at a set time. Proverbs every morning at 5:30. Structure, family, and purpose.
The Word He'd Never Really Known
The tool that changed him most was accountability. At 41, it had never been opened to him the way it was in the home, and Pastor Anthony Gomez, who goes by Pastor AG, walked him through it. Belony, who describes himself as an Enneagram 9, had always hashed things out silently in his own mind and moved on, and it was never healthy. The home taught him to be transparent, to open up and communicate.
On his 22nd day, during morning Proverbs and worship, God broke all the way through.
"The joy was restored. I started smiling on the inside. And I felt that same weeping I'd felt in my room, but this time it was a weeping of joy. I cried for the first time in years."
The verse that showed him he was changing was Proverbs 14:12, that there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Belony had always been a man of many plans, and most of them had led to destruction. When he finally started living accountable, he knew he was growing.
From Nobody to Home Director
Belony's relationship with Jesus changed everything. He puts God first now, stays in communion with Him through the day, and hears Him more clearly than ever. His relationship with his daughter is restored. His family is restored, the same people who once kept their distance now call him for advice.
"I came in not believing in myself, feeling unworthy. Now, honestly, I feel like a boss in the kingdom. Safe. Secure in God."
He came in a nobody, and he says thank God for Pastor Ray believing in him. He has been the men's home director for about a year and a half. And his next season is a big one: he's being launched out to Austin with a team to help start a new expansion of Rise. His greatest fear, and his motivation, is simple: to never go back to his old way, and one day, to have a family again.
If This Is You
Belony was certain he'd end up another statistic. Instead, he leads the very home that changed him. If you feel that far gone, or if someone you love is convinced they're a lost cause, don't wait. It's free, a real person answers day or night, and it starts with one call.
Ready to reach out? Get help now. Freedom really is just one phone call away. (325) 232-5449.
And it's all free because of people like you. As Belony puts it, he had no insurance and no money, and a place he could simply call and be accepted for free is the only reason he isn't in a casket today. It takes a village, and your giving is part of it.
If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or thoughts of suicide, you are not alone and help is available. Rise Discipleship's 24/7 helpline is (325) 232-5449.
Comments