{"id":9873,"date":"2022-03-25T15:22:58","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T15:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/atlantic\/a-living-will\/"},"modified":"2025-05-26T11:22:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T11:22:16","slug":"a-living-will","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/atlantic\/2022\/03\/a-living-will\/","title":{"rendered":"A Living Will"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI am a former junkie,\u201d states R\u00e9jean. \u201cI wasn\u2019t able to support my family and went through a divorce, all because I did drugs. I\u2019m sure had I continued on the path I\u2019d been on, I would have died. But The Salvation Army saved my life.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Open Doors
\n<\/strong>
\nR\u00e9jean\u2019s first contact with The Salvation Army came about 13 years ago, when he discovered The Salvation Army\u2019s Booth Centre in Montreal, which offers temporary housing and the support of intervention workers for men 18 and over who are experiencing housing difficulties and struggling with addiction or mental illness.<\/p>\n

It was when R\u00e9jean was active at the Booth Centre and helping out at The Salvation Army\u2019s Camp Lac L\u2019Achigan that he got to know Major Rock Marcoux.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pastors, such as Major Rock, and the staff at the Booth Centre, took the time to listen and take care of me so I could get better,\u201d R\u00e9jean says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was there that I welcomed God into my life.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With the support of Major Rock and the staff, he entered the Booth Centre\u2019s addiction treatment program and started the process of recovery. As he healed spiritually, physically and emotionally, doors opened to another part of his life that he thought were forever closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThirteen years went by without my children having any contact with me,\u201d R\u00e9jean says. \u201cI reconnected with them in 2012. They gave me a second chance and we got to know each other. I am part of their lives and they are part of mine now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volunteering <\/strong><\/p>\n

While at the Booth Centre, R\u00e9jean was told about The Salvation Army\u2019s Nouveaux D\u00e9parts (New Starts) Community Church in Sherbrooke, Que.<\/p>\n

There, he volunteered with community and family services, assisted in renovating the church, took care of the volunteers, worked at the food bank and, most of all, offered help to anyone who asked for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI volunteered three times a week,\u201d R\u00e9jean continues. \u201cWhen I decided to get involved, I did it with my heart. No one forced me. Growing up, I was taught the importance of helping others. That was the most beautiful lesson my parents ever taught me, that helping others is priceless.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love volunteering,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiving to people as much as I can. I do it with heart. Seeing people come to the food bank reminds me of where I was in another life. Without The Salvation Army, I would have been homeless and probably would have lost my life on the street.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people come to the Army for help, they know we care. We\u2019re here to help them. Sometimes people come to the food bank and, often, the next time we see them, it\u2019s in the church on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHelping others is priceless, it\u2019s rewarding, and I know that the people I help are happy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Goals <\/strong><\/p>\n

But just as R\u00e9jean started a new life, he received some difficult news. Doctors diagnosed him with cancer, which necessitated surgery on one of his lungs in 2020. Unfortunately, after further tests late last year, doctors found more cancer, which wasn\u2019t operable.<\/p>\n

The diagnosis might well have paralyzed someone with less spirit, but R\u00e9jean refused to be cowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have a way of grieving,\u201d he says, \u201cI\u2019m not going to sit at home and twiddle my thumbs.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cAll I asked God was to get me through Christmas and New Year\u2019s,\u201d he continues. \u201cThey are my favourite holidays. Then, for the darker days, Major Rock purchased tickets to a Christmas show at Place Des Arts and he told me to put them on the fridge and think about that when I had difficult moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

R\u00e9jean opened his heart to God when he arrived at the Booth Centre. He also knows his feelings of love and respect for his Salvationist friends are reciprocated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that the people at Nouveaux D\u00e9parts are praying for me on Tuesday nights and Sunday mornings,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

R\u00e9jean has decided not to have any extended treatment and is now in a hospice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to be in hospital for six months,\u201d he shares. \u201cI don\u2019t want to put my children through that. I don\u2019t want them to worry. I spend weekends with them. I asked my son if I could talk to my 12-year-old grandson about my health. I told him that I would soon pass away, and he understands.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat little time I have left, I want it to be beautiful and useful.\u201d Which is why he decided to share his testimony, to be an example for others.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can help one person ask for help and pull them out from their own darkness, my goal will have been achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI am a former junkie,\u201d states R\u00e9jean. \u201cI wasn\u2019t able to support my family and went through a divorce, all because I did drugs. I\u2019m sure had I continued on the path I\u2019d been on, I would have died. But The Salvation Army saved my life.\u201d Open Doors R\u00e9jean\u2019s first contact with The Salvation Army […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9874,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1014],"tags":[],"location":[],"class_list":["post-9873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hope-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Living Will - Salvation Army Atlantic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/atlantic\/2022\/03\/a-living-will\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Living Will - Salvation Army Atlantic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cI am a former junkie,\u201d states R\u00e9jean. \u201cI wasn\u2019t able to support my family and went through a divorce, all because I did drugs. 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