Stories of Healing
“I want everyone to feel loved, like i did.”
Joshua Serafin
(graduated 2022)
“it wasn’t just me going through all this tough stuff, it was all of us. it just felt like i was at home.”
dustin bergevin
“It’s been almost 25 years since I was a resident at Wagner Hills Farm.”
JASON ROBERTS
(graduated 1998)
I checked in when I was 25 years old and had been using hard drugs for 10 years at that point. At first, it seemed my using was a way to deal with my insecurities, but it ran deeper than that. I was trying to deal with a deep brokenness, a sense of abandonment.
I chased after outside stimulation to try and deal with the growing emptiness, confusion, and anger inside me. It got to a point where I prayed that the outside stimulation—that the heroin—would take my life. I began to mix street drugs with pharmaceuticals, hoping I wouldn’t wake up. I began to use too much. I longed for peace. I was hopeless. I thought death was the way out.
I checked into Wagner Hills Farm in 1998. It was a safe, peaceful place where I was loved and introduced to many things that brought healing and growth and eventually transformed my life.
These past 24 years since leaving Wagner Hills as a resident have been an adventure.
I grew up (mostly). I married my wife, Nicole, and had three children: Ali, Max, and Zoe. I went to school, took courses, and worked in different parts of the world as a pastor.
In 2008, Nicole and I returned from overseas. Shortly thereafter, I returned to Wagner Hills, this time as a board member, then as the Men’s Campus Director, and eventually as Executive Director, a journey that has been underway for over a decade.
At Wagner Hills, we point to Jesus Christ first. He is the Son of God, who died on the cross to set us free and he has a plan for our lives. This truth is at the core of Wagner Hills Farm. And it is our honour to provide a safe place where men and women experience Jesus as they journey through their year (and beyond) with us.
We love our work and are so grateful for your support that allows us to walk alongside these men and women as they find their way to Him.
it has definitely molded me into a man i never thought i could become, honestly.”
cody poggenpohl
“Change doesn’t happen from outside, it has to start inside. Wagner helped me with all the tools. When I was struggling, I thought my addiction was who I was. Wagner Hills helped me see that I am God’s child, that’s my identity. “
– Duop (Stephen) Chop
“going through this process, it gave me my life back. it gave me a purpose.”
sam rae
“I was able to see the beauty in me.”
SAMANTHA RAE
(graduated 2021)
I was very young when I first noticed addiction in my home. I had some incredibly traumatic experiences and needed to suppress the pain, which led me to drink and use drugs. I had been in addiction 12 years prior to coming to The Farm. Since coming to Wagner Hills, my life has been radically transformed. One area where God changed my life was through the cut flower program at The Farm.
When I was a young girl I wasn’t able to hear very well. I relied on my eyes and sense of smell to engage with the world. I have distinct memories of being a little girl, walking with my grandma and smelling flowers with her. I was innocent, free, and could appreciate the delicate beauty in a flower. I lost that over the years, and in many ways, I lost myself.
By being a part of the flower garden at Wagner Hills, I found myself again. I was able to heal and go back to being that little girl who could see God in the beauty of a flower. I was able to see the beauty in me.
The cut flower program helped me grow into a person who appreciates creation and the work of God in nature. Each flower is unique and requires different care and attention. My time at Wagner Hills has been a place where God has tended to me in the same way, which has led to healing, new growth, and transformation in my life.
“I remember the days we’d be in work program and Helmut would come by, put his ginormous hand on your shoulder and pray with you. You felt loved, cared for. It felt so good to have someone whose heart is to help. I appreciated the brotherhood that we had at Wagner Hills.”
– Ken Pesch
“I’m not a monster anymore”
Chad Toneff
“You come here to change your life…”
Taylor Weinberger
“I feel I am uniquely qualified to share my story with others. I try to involve myself as much as I can in groups and organizations that help others like me. Overcoming addiction is possible, people recover all the time and world needs to know that. Addiction is not a life sentence.”