Written by: Gerda Potgieter
Article source: Supplied
It is never too late to change your life, and nothing should hold you back from living better. I want to share another powerful recovery story that will inspire you and bring a smile to your face. The individuals who share their stories with me do so with humility and honesty, and their experiences resonate deeply with readers. They acknowledge their mistakes, but most importantly, they have learned from them and now use their experiences to help others.
The story below is about Adam Mickleburgh. Now a qualified law expert, Adam once believed his brain was damaged due to drug abuse. His journey of self-discovery led him to complete restoration.
Adam told me that sometimes you must hit rock bottom — emotionally, financially, mentally, and spiritually — before you can change your life for the better. It is only at the bottom that one realises how far off course you are and that you must make different life choices. This is precisely what happened to him. He had to be confronted with his dysfunctional behaviours before he could invite positive change into his life.
Adam is from KwaZulu-Natal. Due to his addiction to hard drugs, Adam spent two years in prison in a foreign country, was deported to South Africa, and ultimately ended up living on the streets of Durban. He caused his parents significant distress to the point where they could no longer cope with his presence in their lives. Things had reached a stage where he was contemplating suicide, as he felt there was nothing left for him in life.
And humanly speaking, he had no way to escape from the pit he had dug for himself. His life was one of sin and rebellion against God, and he had chosen to live that life! After seeking help at many rehabilitation institutions, things had only ever gotten worse. Then he heard about the CYPSA (Concerned Young People of SA) programme at the KwaSizabantu Mission and went into an internet café to look up directions.
Adam arrived at the Mission in June 2012, two days before a youth conference hosted there. At the conference, he heard the late Rev Erlo Stegen preach on Romans 7:24-25, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
“I had never heard such preaching before, although I had spent time in many churches. When I heard that sermon, I knew in my heart that it was the truth being preached. My life was never the same again from that day onwards,” Adam told me.
Adam followed the CYPSA restoration programme, began attending services, and started speaking with a mentor. As he began to confess his sins, he could feel the burdens of a lifetime of sin, guilt, and shame rolling off his shoulders, and he was set free from the hold that drug addiction and the devil had on his life. God entered his heart and began to work inside him. After the mentors accompanied him to make amends with his parents and others he had wronged in the past, he was allowed to work in the dining hall, helping with cleaning and serving meals.
In his heart, Adam said, ‘Lord, if this is all I ever have, it will be enough if I can just seek You in this place.’ But the Lord had other plans for Adam’s life. Today, more than a decade after he first entered the gates of KwaSizabantu, he has completed an LLB degree and his articles to be admitted as a practising attorney. He works in the aQuellé water bottling plant based on the Mission grounds. He also actively participates in the CYPSA restoration program and shares his story with others. This helps those who are addicted to drugs and gives them hope.
His father also met the Lord and now lives at the Mission, partly because of the change that took place in Adam’s life. Adam met his soulmate at KwaSizabantu, where both are dedicated to Christ and His work, and the couple serves the Lord together. They were blessed with a beautiful baby girl.
“For more than a decade now, I have experienced the unceasing kindness, love, selflessness and patience of the co-workers, mentors, and seniors at the Mission. These people have surrendered their lives completely to help people like me and rescue them from the gates of hell,’ Adam concluded.
Watch the interview with Adam:
Click here to KEEP UPDATED on the latest news by subscribing to our FREE weekly newsletter.
> Please support Christian media and journalism in South Africa. Help us to spread the Word of God and take a stand for the truth by making a donation to our ministry. We appreciate your support. Click here to take hands with JOY! Magazine.
Date published: 22/10/2025
Feature image: Adam & Miriam
DISCLAIMER
JOY! News is a Christian news portal that shares pre-published articles by writers around the world. Each article is sourced and linked to the origin, and each article is credited with the author’s name. Although we do publish many articles that have been written in-house by JOY! journalists, we do not exclusively create our own content. Any views or opinions presented on this website are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the company.
