“Mum, I’m sorry.” Amanda’s heart sank as the words echoed through the phone. It was the call no mother wants to receive. Her son Boston had been arrested on drug-related charges.
It felt like her world had collapsed as she imagined her son’s future behind bars. The little boy who had once brought her so much joy, had become hardened and distant following the death of his father.
Amanda had watched his transformation unfold before her eyes as he turned to drugs for comfort and escape from the harsh realities of life. But little did she know that one day, he would tell her that going to prison was the best thing that could have happened to him.
Boston was at his lowest point the night his apartment was raided, and he was arrested. Going to prison felt like a full stop on his life. It felt like there was no way forward.
A man walked into the prison and greeted him with a big warm smile; the first person who had smiled at him since his arrival. He introduced himself as a chaplain and invited Boston to sit down for a chat.
Over the coming months, Boston was able to speak about the hurt he had been carrying for the first time. He came to see his friend, the chaplain, as the father figure he had been missing.
Boston pored over the bible he had been gifted and he had so many questions about what he had read. Eventually, he came to the realisation that the hole he had been trying to fill with drugs and alcohol, could only be filled with Jesus.
Amanda will never forget the phone call she received one day. “Mum, I’m saved.” Her grief and desperation were replaced with peace and even joy. She knew Boston was going to be okay. His life wasn’t over, it was just beginning.
Boston, too, came to see his time in prison as a springboard, rather than a full stop. Upon his release, he was truly free. Free from the burdens and addictions that had weighed so heavily on his shoulders.
Rather than returning to his old life, Boston connected with an organisation that helps ex-inmates reintegrate into society, finding accommodation and work.
He also connected with his local church, where he now leads a bible study, in hopes that his testimony might save other young men from a life of addiction and regret.
Boston is adamant he would have returned to his old habits and made the same mistakes all over again, if it wasn’t for the kindness of the chaplain he came to call ‘friend’ in the most unexpected of places.