Thirty-plus years of slavery to addiction, homelessness, and unspeakable abuse would be a soul-crushing defeat for most, but for Charles Knuckles, there was only one way out: through Jesus Christ. As a rescued, recovered addict, Charles tells his story of the unembellished and brutal truth behind some of the evilest parts of society.Orphaned at two years old and raised on the hard streets of the "Badlands" of Philadelphia, he grappled with physical and sexual abuse, racism, and the loss of his parents. Shuttled from foster home to foster home, navigating the racial and civil unrest of the sixties, he soon found solace in alcohol. As a young man, desperate to escape his constant loneliness, Charles joined the Navy and Heroin became his new medicine of choice.After years of homelessness, addiction, and no true human connection, Charles found himself in a hospital with a bullet wound in the back of his head and three bags of cocaine in his pocket. After refusing treatment, he went home to get high and end it all.but God intervened.
This remarkable story recounts the restoration of his humanity and life through the power of Christ. Charles shares what he learned, both as a person who desperately needed help to recover and as a person who has helped hundreds of people through recovery since. Since being rescued he has dedicated his life to helping others, and this book is another contribution to the legacy of Christ.