Testimony of the Gann Family

"Our Marriage is So Much Different Now."
Up & down marriage finds stability in Jesus!

Michael: “Don’t let anyone tell you, that you can’t get hooked on pot. We got married when I was 18 and Jennifer was only 14. We both were hooked.”

Jennifer: “I started using pot at age 13. Believe it or not, my mother gave me my first joint.”

Michael: “Our marriage was rocky from the start. Drugs and alcohol were our main focus. We spent all our money on our habits and lived in everything from cars to tool sheds. I’d work all week and by Saturday our money was gone. In order to get by, I got into stealing.

We’ve been separated several times since we married. During one of our separations, I went to New Mexico where I was put in jail. After a few months, they transferred me to a jail in Virginia. When I was out, we got back together for a while. I started going to church and stopped doing drugs, but I was still drinking. One day, I came home from work and Jennifer was gone, that was all the excuse I needed to go right back to drugs.

I started skipping my probation visits because I knew I’d test dirty on the drug tests. I didn’t want to go back to jail. I saw where my life was going. I didn’t want to live any more, so I swallowed two bottles of sleeping pills. Fortunately, for me, my mother found me on the floor. I woke up two days later in the ICU.

After that, the cycle started all over. I remember my Dad telling me it looked like I was getting ready to go down the same road again. Dad’s church supports the Durham Rescue Mission and he asked me if I would consider going there. I had to do something, so I started driving to Durham. At one point, I had to borrow a dollar for gas. I didn’t know my way around Durham and I couldn’t understand the directions people were giving. Just as I was about to give up hope, I looked up and saw the mission’s sign on the corner. Right away, I knew this was the place for me.

Things were working great at the mission. I got into the Victory Program and I had hope in my life. Then another test came my way. I was in violation of probation and my picture turned up in a missing person notice. I turned myself in to the local police and was sent back to jail in Virginia. Mr. Pleasants, our Chaplain at the mission, came to court on my behalf. They released me to return and finish the Victory Program.”

Jennifer: “Michael and I had been separated for some time. I got word he had sent a letter to me at my Dad’s house. I hadn’t heard from him for about a year. In the letter, he told me how much he had changed. I really wanted our marriage to work out, so I came to the Durham Rescue Mission. I realized I needed the same biblical help Michael was getting. I have a few months longer in my program than Michael. When I graduate, I hope to get a job so Michael can go back to school."

Michael: “I will graduate from the Victory Program soon. My plans are to continue working at the mission until Jennifer graduates from her program. Right now we’re looking at Bible colleges. I’d like to get into missions or evangelism.”

Jennifer: “Our marriage is so much different now. It’s a lot easier to talk to each other, we do family devotions, it’s as if we’ve finally grown up.”

Michael: “I remember one Police Officer in Virginia, who said ‘They’ll never stop doing crack.’ Well, I’d like him to read Philippians 4:13, ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’ The fact we’re drug free is not because of us, but because of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You know, both Jennifer and I received Jesus Christ as our Savior when we were young, but we weren’t growing and our focus was totally on ourselves. I know there are a lot of people, like us, who are just content to say they've been saved, but now I realize how important it is to know the word of God and to live by it. Maybe the Lord will use our story to help someone else. I pray that will be the case.”

Jennifer: “The Lord used the Durham Rescue Mission to change our lives.”

NOTE: Michael and Jennifer were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Michael was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He fought a good fight until the Lord called him home on November 22, 2002. He was 28.

A Letter from a Mother
In Memory of Michael Shane Gann

November 22, 1974- November 22, 2002

Dear Ernie and Gail,

I think of you often, but have not been able to bring myself to come back to the mission since Shane's death. Maybe in time I will be able to walk those grounds again and volunteer during the holidays as I did when he was there, but until then please accept this donation to help minister to some other young man in need like my son when he came to you. I know that even though he left the mission, his heart was there and his thoughts so often went back to his friends and his extended family there. I, too, have a special place in my heart for the mission and wish I could do more. Thank you so much for your work there and for what the two of you stand for. My thoughts and prayers are with you often.

This has been the hardest year of my life. I thought when Shane was locked away in Charter Hospital during his early teens, it couldn't get worse. I thought when he was missing and none of us knew if he were dead or alive, it couldn't get worse. I thought when he was in jail and I could not touch him or hug him, it couldn't get worse. But none of these could possibly compare to the sorrow and grief this year has brought. The only thing that keeps me going is the promise of our Lord that someday (and I believe very soon) I will see my son again just inside the gates of Heaven, waiting for me to join him.

I know his soul is in Heaven, but the little body I rocked, watched while at play, sat up with many nights during sickness, hugged and kissed, felt in my arms, and long to hold again, is lying in a cold, dark grave and will never walk through my door again. Words can never describe the hole in your heart when your child is gone.

Keep us in your prayers as we do you. May God bless and prosper you and your work.

Love in Christ,
Peggy and Allen

UPDATE: Jennifer has remarried and has found the Lord as her personal Savior. She had made a profession before Michael’s death, but now says, she did profess, but didn’t possess! Thank the Lord, she has gotten her life straight for the Lord.