Monday 5th Feb 07

Sunday:
After returning to the city, from Church last night, I found Dougy drinking again. While he said he had tried not to drink, I didn't expect him to remain sober as an instant change. Defeating an addiction is a difficult and usually long process. What I was happy about was that he was still motivated to change his ways, and still planned to meet with the Salvo's guys on Monday. He's now a Christian, but with problems (like most Christians).

He was very intoxicated when he came and sat with me in HJs, about 12:30am. We talked about God, and prayed about his situation, before he asked for an ambulance, having trouble breathing, and then collapsed in my arms. It was a bit tougher emotionally, as he was no longer just a drunk, but a drunk caught in the grip of something he no longer wants. The Ambos came, were very friendly, and took him off to St.Vincents, and I went for a walk.

I came across Goaty who asked me to read some Proverbs to him, from his new Bible. As I opened it up I saw it was a King James version, and so I did some rephrasing as I read it, which helped. I tried to head off an hour later but he got upset that I was leaving him alone, so I stayed a while longer.

Monday:
This morning I sat with Robbie's crew, which gathered at 8am to start the day with a bottle of port. I hoped to intercept Dougy and/or remind him of his appointment with the Salvos today. By 10am he hadn't arrived. I checked with St.Vincents and he had been released at 8am, but not been by the Salvo's yet. I headed back to Robbie's crew at St.Pauls, and then slept on the grass for a while. That afternoon, back at the Salvos, they said Dougy had come by earlier, to talk. They think they will try and get him into a Rapid Detox Programme, and they are going to meet with him again tomorrow. So that was good news, that he didn't head straight to the crew, and kept his appointment.