Shawn Epperson

“My name is Shawn Epperson. Growing up I was what you would call the All-American Boy. I went to church with my family, I was very involved in my youth group, I was on the varsity golf team, and my friends all looked up to me as the guy you could depend on. All that changed the day my world got turned upside down. 

The Bible says in John 10:10 that Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. When I was 21 years old, my father passed away of a brain aneurism. He died suddenly and quickly—I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.  Trying to find some comfort and answers, I leaned hard on God and my church family, but when I didn’t find any I turned away from them both. Satan used this experience to begin to destroy my life. I started experimenting with alcohol and marijuana. When that didn’t ease my pain, I eventually leaned onto something much more damaging: pain pills. When I started, I always put limits on how many I did, but eventually the addiction took control and I was in a downward spiral and in over my head.

My addiction quickly progressed and I became more and more desperate for money to further my habit, so I started working more hours, selling things that I owned and eventually taking from my own family. One day I got so desperate I stole money from my mother and needless to say, when she found out I had to turn myself into the police. At first I didn’t think that anything good could come out of this incident but, looking back on it now, that incident got me to Chad’s Hope Teen Challenge. God never left me when my father passed away. Whenever He didn’t answer all the questions that I had about his death, I got mad and questioned Him but my time isn’t His time. Romans 8:28 says God works everything for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose—everything, both the good and the bad.”