In December 2007, Davis Rodriguez underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumor on his right lung, leaving him unable to work, and consequently without the means to provide for himself. A friend invited him to church where he began to attend regularly. At one particular service, as the pastor shared about salvation through Jesus Christ, Davis felt that God was speaking directly to him. He responded to what he now knows was the call of God, and accepted Jesus as his Lord. From that point on, Davis had a brand new perspective on life.

Davis was invited to live with a family at the church, and began attending school to become licensed as an insurance agent. During this time, the family told him about the Orange County Rescue Mission and he felt that this was the kind of boost he needed in order to get back on his feet. Davis applied and was accepted into the Village of Hope on April 28, 2008, and made a commitment to remain for one full year while he worked out the issues that were hindering him from a life of self-sufficiency.

This included applying himself to his newfound faith, which Davis was more than eager to do. Pastor Thom Helmick, Village of Hope case manager, provided Davis with one-on-one and group counseling sessions in which he received much-needed encouragement, direction and, most importantly, the foundation for an intimate relationship with God. “Pastor Thom led me to see and understand who and what the Lord is by having a spiritual relationship with Him,” Davis says. In addition, with OCRM's help Davis completed his course work and in June 2008 passed the state exam and received his license as an insurance agent.

Meanwhile, not being one to sit on his hands, Davis, as a member of Saddleback Church, completed a 30-week Church Counselor Training Course and Hospital Care Ministry Training and began visiting patients. Davis says, “I could not have done any of these things without the Lord in my life and the support of the Village of Hope.”

“It's wonderful to see this in somebody,” Pastor Thom says, “where they're self-sufficient, but they also recognize there's a calling on their life to share with the world.”

On April 28, 2009, a year to the date he entered, Davis graduated from the Village of Hope. In May, he began attending classes to receive his state and federal securities licenses, and has recently received his approved membership with the National Ethics Bureau.

Before his surgery, Davis thought he had it all together. Now he considers his bout with cancer the biggest blessing of his life. Through it, he began an eternal relationship with the Lord, who through the Rescue Mission brought him motivation and purpose he would never have known. Davis has taken that purpose and run with it.