Mother’s drug agony ends in Praise

Whenever I see this picture it gives me hope. Hope for every mother or father out there who has a child caught up in drugs or gangs. This is the amazing story by Allida Williams:

As a mother, I always had great expectations and high hopes for Brent, my only son. And almost 9 years ago I was faced with the nightmare that my son was on drugs.

Everyday I would watch Brent visit neighbours, which I naively thought to be innocent and safe. Suddenly his behaviour changed, he became aggressive and withdrew from the family. He frequently asked me for money and became careless about his appearance.

I only accepted the reality once I saw Brent deteriorating before my very eyes. I was forced to accept that my son was addicted to drugs and that help was needed.

This motivated me to do research on drugs and contacted various rehabilitation institutions in order to rid my son from this curse. We were unable to place him in any rehabilitation institutions due to fees being too costly. My state of health weakened as depression overtook me and the hope for my son’s future disappeared.

Brent became involved in gang related activities, lost his job and started selling drugs one after the other. Hallucinations haunted him almost everyday which resulted in him imagining that there were people trying to kill him.

Brent threatened to kill his father and myself on numerous occassions, this was the extent the drugs called TIK controlled him. He lost all respect for his family and the community. I was ashamed of my son. I became fearful and heart sore as I watched my son’s life being destroyed by TIK.

Every night I would cry myself to sleep and I continually blamed myself for his state of mind, a situation in which I was totally helpless. For 8 years Brent had to feed his drug habit, leading to greater harm, fear and pain to us.

One day I found him with cuts on his legs, bleeding and claiming that he accidentally hurt himself. Knowing that he lied, I realized that my son was at breaking point, as he continued to threaten to kill himself. There was absolutely nothing he or I could do to save him from his destructive drug abuse and related activities. I knew that only a miracle could set him free, thus urging him to call out to God.

The very moment he broke down and cried out to the Lord Jesus for help, God sent help his way. A family friend Terrence Hendricks (who belongs to Impact Direct Ministries), told us about a place that could help him. Brent was taken to the Impact Direct Ministries (founded by Pastor Roger Petersen) walk-in-centre where he was counselled and supported. Since then Brent was equipped by Pastor Roger Petersen and other mentors to become a leader himself.

He was sent on several community-based and leadership courses that helped him to plough back into his community. Together with other young men who were also helped by Impact Direct Ministries and under the leadership and guidance of Pastor Roger Petersen: they now go to schools, organizations, companies, clubs and shopping malls where they do presentations and outreaches on drugs and the effects it has on you. Through these outreaches they have helped many drug addicts and families.

I am so grateful to the Lord for giving my son and our family victory over the monstrous affects caused through my son’s past drug addiction. Instead of fear and tears of sorrow, our home is now filled with so much love, peace and a hope of a great future for our family. And this is my prayer for every mother and family.

Brent’s Profile:
Name: Brent Williams
Age: 30 Yrs
Area: Bridgetown, Athlone
Substances: TIK, LSD, Alcohol, Mandrax, Exstacy, Cocaine(Crack)
No. of years: 8 years addicted


Its amazing to see how both Brent and his mom are now engaging with technology using it as a medium to share their stories to give hope to other families.