His Addiction Started the Day His Brother Died. 23 Years Later, Rise Changed Kyle's Heart.
Updated: Aug 10
Kyle Kimmel is a graduate of the Rise Discipleship men's home. He's quick to say his life started good, a great family, real support, raised right. There's no one to blame for how he ended up at Rise but his own choices. But there was a wound underneath it all.
"When I was 13, my only sibling, my brother, died in a car wreck. That was the first love of my life I ever lost."
That loss sent him looking for comfort in all the wrong places, and it started a 23-year addiction to drugs and alcohol. It was a false comfort, but it was the one he reached for. Along the way, he came to believe a lie: that being better at getting high than anyone else was simply who he was, and always would be.
Out of Options
Kyle's family had always loved him, even when they hated what the addiction did to him. But eventually they hit their limit and told him he couldn't be around them anymore. He left for two weeks. Then one morning he woke up with a decision.
"I said, no. I'm not losing my family. Send me wherever I need to go."
As they searched for recovery homes, his aunt pulled up the Rise Discipleship website, and the moment Kyle saw the circle insignia, a memory came rushing back. A year earlier, deep in his addiction, he'd run into two brothers fundraising at a gas station. He'd handed them a dollar and told them he supported what they were doing, never dreaming it mattered.
"Little did I know, God was planting a seed. He knew I'd recognize that symbol a year later, giving me reassurance: this is the direction I'm leading you, son."
Why Rise
What sold Kyle was the access. Other programs had waiting periods and sometimes costs. Rise had none.
"24/7 access to a free place of help. No questions asked. They'll even give you a bus ticket if you're willing to change your life. All it costs is a serving heart to stay."
He arrived expecting a room full of skittish men fresh off drugs, something like a jail. Instead, he felt the presence of God. He met men who had come from stories like his, and worse, now walking with God and leading in a way he never imagined he could.
A Heart Condition, Not Just an Addiction
It took Kyle two weeks to know he needed to stay. God never gave him a reason to leave, and the peace, the love, and the fellowship of brothers gave him every reason to stay. What he found there was something he'd never found in prison, in church, or on the street: genuine acceptance, and men who struggled with the same things he did but were no longer enslaved to them.
And somewhere in that year, the whole framing of his problem changed.
"The home isn't about, I'm an addict and I'll get broken from my addiction. It's, no, I have a heart condition. And God wants to change my heart to be a better person."
The discipline of the home, serving, prayer and Proverbs every morning, taught him self-control and showed him that actions have consequences. He learned to pray for the first time in his life. And out on fundraisers, he met people who were still down and out, and watched them look at him like a light in the dark, because he was walking it out. That, he says, is when he knew God was changing him.
Three Years Later
Kyle graduated on October 1, 2023, and is approaching his three-year mark. Through brothers from the home, God connected him to a steady job in the oil field, and since February 2024 he hasn't missed a single day, a far cry from the man who used to lose jobs to his addiction.
But the biggest change isn't the paycheck. It's his family.
"My mom and dad and I pray together now. We never did that. When you take care of God's children, He takes care of your family, your needs, your purpose."
He still reads the Proverbs of the day and prays, every day, outside the home now. He still stays in touch with his brothers, and still drives back to visit the men coming through, because someone once showed him how to walk it out, and now he wants to do the same for the next man.
If This Is You
Kyle spent 23 years believing his addiction was just who he was. It wasn't, it was a heart that needed healing. If that's you, or if someone you love has been carrying an old grief into a long addiction, 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 Kyle says, your giving covers a man's food, clothing, medical needs, even legal matters, and gives him something a dollar can't buy: his family, his sanity, and his purpose back.
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.
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