He Numbed the Pain After His Best Friend Died. At Rise, Felix Found a Father's Heart.

Felix Dominguez grew up in Chihuahua, Mexico. He was 16 the first time he used drugs. It started with marijuana, then cocaine, which held him for seven years.

Then, in 2018, he lost one of his closest friends, Frank Reese. The last month they spent together, Frank was using methamphetamine, and Felix started using it with him. When Frank passed, Felix fell into the worst stage of his life. Meth became the drug that ran him from that day forward.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMyrLi21FNI

The Realest Conversation

Eventually Felix was worn down, sick and tired of being sick and tired. His mom handed him a card she had been given by some of the disciples from Rise. And in a strange moment of grace, Felix realized he had been carrying one of those exact same cards in his own wallet.

For the first time in his life, he was completely honest with his mother. He told her the truth: yes, he was an addict, and yes, he needed help. She cried. He cried. She hugged him.

"For the first time, she was crying tears of happiness."

Something More Than Sober

It was the first time Felix had ever reached out for help. What drew him was that Rise was a Christian home, not just another rehab. He sensed it had something more to offer him than simply getting sober.

When he walked through the door, he felt it right away.

"I could feel the love. I could feel that the people cared for me."

For the first time in a decade, he was surrounded by a different crowd. People who wanted to change for good. People who wanted to be a positive influence in his life, instead of the negativity and bad influences that had been leading him toward destruction.

Learning to Be a Father

The most important person in Felix's life is his five-year-old son. Not being able to be the father he wanted to be, because of his addiction, had always been the deepest root of his depression.

At Rise, that began to heal. He started learning how to develop a father's heart, how to lead by example, how to walk in love.

The turning point came on a day he was ready to quit. He was mentally tired, physically tired, and felt spiritually drained. But in the middle of that exhaustion, something caught him: it wasn't all about him. There were still new brothers coming in through the same door he had once walked through, and at the same time, someone was there pouring into him.

"That's the time where I started developing that father's heart."

From a Mess to a Testimony

Felix is quick to thank the people who carried him: his mom, his sister, his brother, his whole family who stood with him through it all. His son. The brothers of the home, the graduates and the new ones. And his leadership, Pastor Anthony G.

But the blessing he says he will carry home above all the others is this: God pulled him out of the darkness, placed him in the light, and let him live for someone besides himself.

"It's mind-blowing how God can use such a mess and turn it into a testimony."

Now he can look people in the streets, under the bridges, deep in addiction and depression, and truly identify with them, because he has been there. And with the Spirit of God living inside him, he gets to show them how good God really is.

If This Is You

Felix carried his addiction for years and thought the pain would always own him. It doesn't anymore. If that's where you are, or if someone you love is trapped like this, 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, who make a mother's tears of happiness possible.

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.