Category: Blog

Farewell, Craig!

Posted on by Doug Smith

Dear Friend,

Nine years ago Craig Schweiger became the Executive Director of Light of Life ministries.  From the beginning Craig demonstrated his care for the growth of the organization, he increased our financial stability, and most importantly he wanted to honor Christ through his leadership in our community.

On June 30th, 2020, Craig will be stepping down from his current leadership position at the Mission. Although his position will change he will continue to assist us through counsel and support of key projects as the opportunities present themselves. We are all deeply indebted to Craig for his sacrifice and leadership of Light of Life through our most transformative years.  I am personally grateful for his investment in me as a leader and his support of me to become his successor. Below is a statement from Craig.

Please join me in celebrating Craig’s faithful years of service and pray for God’s continued blessings on his future endeavors. 

-Jerrel T. Gilliam

A Letter from Craig:

Greetings,

I smile when I think back to 2011 when I committed to being the Executive Director at Light of Life Ministries. What I thought was a three-year commitment to help the organization with its real estate relocation needs turned out to be a nine-year journey. That journey proved to be the most rewarding vocation and calling I could have ever imagined, truly a blessing to me and my family! My leadership role at Light of Life will be completed on June 30th of this year. The transition in leadership will be nearly two years in the works. The feat presented incredible challenges due to all the activity in our organization.

For those who are not aware, I left the Executive Director role in September 2018 to become the CEO of Light of Life in order to put my full focus on building relocation and fundraising. Our plan to make the transition positive and continue momentum has been executed well. Our board carried out the six-month process of finding my successor with great prayer and consideration.  As many of you know, our dear brother in Christ, Jerrel Gilliam who possesses a combined 10 years of leadership at Light of Life was awarded the role of new Executive Director. I’m pleased to share that Light of Life has experienced tremendous blessing in the years I have been involved.

I first thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I also thank our staff, our board of directors, and you, our many supporters who have shown endless compassion for the homeless, addicted and lost in our city. I will also remember the nine years I served at Light of Life as the fullest years in terms of my faith and walk with God. I served for a special purpose and that is now complete. I will continue to provide development and construction assistance as our projects continue toward their completion while I attend to some additional non-profit work and development projects through my Joshua House Foundation as well as other business interests.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Craig

Eye of the Needle

Posted on by Light of Life
EYE OF THE NEEDLE
2017 – A short-film documentary that chronicles the opioid addiction epidemic in Pittsburgh, PA. Produced with love by a collaboration of artists and designers for Light of Life Rescue Mission. The design team includes Flying Scooter Productions, Uppercut Studios, and many others. Please share.

The Opioid Epidemic

Posted on by Light of Life

As you know, the opioid epidemic is ever increasing. A few years ago, so many of us thought of drug addiction as a problem that impacted “other people.” For decades, people struggling with addiction have been called every name in the book, as the average person was able to think of this issue as something removed and distant. We could go along our merry way believing that it was not hard to avoid this strange phenomenon that some called a choice and others called a disease. “Just don’t do drugs,” we would pretty sensibly think.

And then our neighbor’s son was caught with heroin in his locker. A nice kid. Football player, straight A student. And then a coworker was mysteriously absent for a few weeks and came back to painfully explain that they had been abusing prescription drugs and had gone to rehab. A close friend’s wife slowly deteriorated as she went from using prescription drugs, becoming dependent, and eventually turning to illegal opioids. A cousin dies from an overdose. A nephew’s marriage ends due to addiction. A young family from church is killed by a driver under the influence of heroin.

This use of opioids is being called an epidemic, a crisis. There is no ignoring it. Drug addiction is ruining lives and ending them. In Allegheny County alone, last year there were over 600 overdose deaths. There would have been much more if not for the life-saving opioid reversing drug, Narcan, administered by hospitals and EMS personnel. We can no longer act as though drug use does not affect us. It is true that we can choose to avoid drugs. We are always responsible for our own choices. But we must have mercy and compassion on people who have made some poor choices and are now completely trapped in addiction.

At Light of Life, we offer hope to those who are turning away from addiction through our long term residential recovery programs for men and women. We are developing new ways to serve our beloved community, to support those affected by addiction. We invite you to attend our upcoming gala, where in addition to celebrating the hope in recovery and lives changed, we will be taking a closer look at homelessness and addiction. Join us to be one of the first to experience a new art installation, The Eye of the Needle. Click here to learn more about attending this event.

You can partner with Light of Life by praying for us and those we serve, volunteering or providing financial support. We serve men, women, and children struggling with addiction, homelessness, and poverty. Please consider being a part of this important work as we offer the love of Christ, one person at a time.