By Arthur Gonçalves
A year ago, I met an addict with no hope. He was struggling with homelessness and living off a shopping cart on the street corner of Sanford, Florida.
His name was Adam Cole.
After a warm meal, prayer and an invite to our prayer gathering, it was clear the Lord, in His great providence, was doing an eternal work. At the prayer gathering, Adam found himself at the end of his rope. At the end of our service, he stood up, repented of his sins and called on the name of Jesus Christ to be saved.
This was the same day Adam met Ed Carr from the Recovery House of Central Florida. And on June 18, 2020, he entered the recovery program.
Adam has become one of my dearest friends and brothers, and he has clearly been born again. As a pastor, it’s truly a blessing to witness Adam’s hunger for God. Over the last year, I have seen him strive to not only live a life clean from drugs and alcohol, but a life that exalts his Savior in every way and expands the Kingdom of His Lord.
Adam went from living in the woods to buying his first home, near our family in DeBary, Florida. Let that sink in for a moment: the Lord took a man struggling with homelessness and made him a homeowner, for His glory. That’s comprehensive restoration. It’s truly remarkable. Not only has Adam gotten back on his feet financially, but he just launched his new Surfs Up Shaved Ice business this month as well.
I’m truly amazed at God’s grace in Adam’s life. I’m so proud and humbled to call him my friend and brother, and I’m so excited for what Christ has in store for his new business and ministry in our church plant. I’m so thankful he’s a faithful member at Restoration Church and a key part of our church planting team.
Adam is one of the countless examples of the grace that God has shown my team and I during this endeavor to plant Restoration Church in Sanford, Florida, in January 2022.
Our mission at Restoration Church of Sanford is to restore all people from all walks of life back to God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And in God’s kindness, this is happening — biblical restoration, one soul at time.
Arthur Gonçalves is the lead pastor and planter of Restoration Church of Sanford in the downtown historic district of Sanford, Florida.
Published July 27, 2021
