Some days I sit back and think about my life a few years ago, where I’ve been, what I’ve done and how I’ve changed over the years. Funny thing about our minds is we easily tend to forget the bad times and only remember the good times. It was in this thought that I was drawn to a time in my life where things were not always good. A time where every day was a hustle and it always seemed like there was no end in sight. Not too long ago I was young kids addicted to drugs and a life spent looking for a constant need of attention and wanting to be in the spotlight and strangely enough doing this by lurking in the shadows, hiding the real me from the world. I spent almost 8 years of my life dabbling things I thought would bring me popularity and social acceptance while at the same time wanting people to respect me. It was during my high school career where I first started to experiment with drugs, always seen as a nerd or “boffin” as was the more commonly used nickname at our school. This was to be my downward spiral into what was to be the hardest 8 years of my life.
Towards the end of my high school career I started making connections within the wrong circle of friends, leading me into a reputation as a druggie, dealer and general low life amongst my peers. I often ended up owing people money and various other items I often “borrowed” only to have sold to try and start up a business dealing drugs. Leaving high school I ended up at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology to start my studies in Mechanical engineering, not making it very far before the freedom I had there led me into a life of chilling out and always looking to have fun at the expense of my parents. I registered at this institution for 4 years not completing 1 first year. The opportunities to have fun were far too much me and my inability to make the correct choices, my drug using spiraled out of control while studying, experimenting with different drug on majority of my days at Tech. I would spend days looking for phones to steal to hustle some cash together to buy a large quantity of Meth and sell it off at Tech ,though many times we would ending using a majority of what I had bought ourselves. After giving up on studies I worked with my father in our family business, often trying to see where I could steal something when going to sites just to feed my habit. I would steal from my parents constantly and often there would be times where I would steal from relatives. My friends and I always looked for the next party, the next opportunity to use and a quick and easy way to make money. I lived my life constantly looking over my shoulder for people who I owed money to. I got mixed up with the common lowlifes, the gangsters and the merchants who befriended me and would often find myself in the most dangerous of places not even realizing where I was and the dangers of it. My last “stand” as an addict came after running away from home one evening, moving in with a friend of mine we partied for about two weeks or so until one day I stole all of their phones and ran off. I ran to our holiday house in Betty’s Bay but the money and drugs were used up all too quickly. Eventually I was running away from the police in this little holiday destination having stolen a phone from a party I was invited to. I had given up and was stuck with nowhere to go and nobody to turn to. One night my dad turned up and found me, he offered me the opportunity to come home. I did so, but that very night my friends had learned of my return and was back at my door for revenge. Once inside they confronted me in front of my parents, wanting to do nothing other than harm me. After much begging and pleading on my parents behalf they agreed to have my parents pay them in exchange for leaving me alone.
This night was the beginning of new things to come, for the first time in my life I stood there in front of my parents and was completely honest with them, I broke down and cried and all I could say was: “can somebody please help me, I can’t help myself, and I can’t do this anymore”. My mother had helped someone with regards to getting someone into a rehab that week, she then in turn called them back looking for assistance for me, a week or so later I was accepted to go to Healing wings in Mozambique. I flew off to this strange place not knowing what to expect, arriving there I thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life. It was probably the hardest 9 months of my life, but looking back I had some good times, met some amazing people and had my future shaped by God while there. I became a Christian, learning that God had a plan for my life, that no matter what I had done I was forgiven. I stayed there under the guidance of the staff and leadership and with their help faced everything I had done in my past and was equipped to deal with the future. Leaving Healing wings wasn’t easy, realizing the real worked started from when I left, I got into an amazing organization called the DEA who hired me to do intervention at schools, speaking about my addiction and influencing teens to not wonder down the same path I did. Since then I have worked as a youth pastor in my local church, as a Tech specialist For Hewlett Packard and the New Clicks group and now I am currently an IT officer at Dimension Data, I have found a new love in Christ and he in turn has blessed me with a new love in my fiancé Rachel, an amazing woman of God who supports me in everything I do and partners with me in my walk with God, we are planning to be married next year, something I never thought would happen in my life. All f this has taken place in the five years and 2 months after leaving Healing wings. It hasn’t been easy since leaving, do not be mistaken, life isn’t roses leaving rehab it doesn’t get easier it takes work, but as you work at it, God helps you along the way, tests you and carry’s you through it. It’s all about those little choices you make every day and being grateful for what you have, what God has already and accepting his Grace which he freely gives to you. I thank God and Healing wings for everything they put into my life, helping me realize who I am and who I have the potential to be, taking each day at a time and trying to do the most with each moment I have, I would not be here if it wasn’t for the loved I received in my darkest moments.
God Bless
Gino Lange
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