Year-long residential discipleship ministry, personal relationships bring young man to Christ

Year-long residential discipleship ministry, personal relationships bring young man to Christ

Jake Matulia said baseball was beyond just being important to him — it was in his bloodline.

“Baseball is a big deal in our family,” Matulia said. “Both of my brothers played professional baseball, and my dad was a college baseball coach for 30 years. He was a scout with the Braves and with the Royals.”

Matulia thought it was his destiny too, but stronger than his bloodline was something that got in his bloodstream — Adderall. Somebody gave him his first dose of the amphetamine drug the summer before his sophomore year of high school.

“I was really tired, and my dad was doing lessons with this guy, and the guy said, ‘Hey, here’s a pill.’ I didn’t even know what it was,” Matulia said of Adderall, which is used to treat attention deficit disorder.

He took the pill, and he had “crazy focus” and a lot of energy that day.

“I came back the next day, and I bought a bunch from him,” he said.

A dangerous path

It set him on a course and all throughout high school and into college, Matulia took more and more Adderall until he was taking eight to 10 pills a day. He was on the baseball team at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, but he kept missing class, practices and games. Finally, one day the coach sent him home.

The road contained some twists and turns from there, but through the help of his parents, brother and the county sheriff, they eventually got Matulia settled at Fishers’ Farm, a yearlong residential discipleship ministry run by Strong Tower at Washington Park, Montgomery, that helps men struggling with “life-dominating sins” like drug or porn addiction. 

“I came to Fishers’ Farm thinking I was a pretty good person and I just had a struggle with drugs, I just took too many pills,” Matulia said.

But the first night he arrived, Jeff Hand, who directs the ministry and serves as the missions pastor for Strong Tower, shared his testimony with Matulia.

A pattern of sin

“Then he asked me about my life, and he said some hard things,” Matulia said. “He said if your life is characterized by a pattern of sin, you may not be a Christian. It really messed me up, and I wondered, ‘Do I really believe this stuff?’”

Hand began walking Matulia through Scripture, and within two weeks of arrival Matulia had given his life to Christ.

“God began to show me my sin and that it was so much more than a drug addiction, it was a whole life that was in rebellion against Him,” Matulia said. “Over the next year, Jeff discipled me, and I got to see what his walk with Jesus looked like, how he loved his family, how he treated people.”

When Matulia first arrived at Fishers’ Farm, he had intended to go back to Adderall and baseball, but God had other plans, he said. 

Now he’s taking online classes from Boyce College in Louisville, Kentucky, and serving as an intern to Strong Tower’s pastor, Terrence Jones.

“When you’re addicted to drugs it can seem like there’s no way out,” Matulia said. “Even if you get off drugs and you don’t know Christ, you’re going to run after something. It’s going to be money, or you might worship your family. The only way to be at peace is through faith in Christ.”

Hand said he hopes all the men who come to Fishers’ Farm find peace like Matulia did.

Several others graduated from the program in August, including Buddy, a man who is now living a brand-new life and working to provide for his wife and two children and love them well.

“Some of the guys have had their lives changed by the gospel,” said Hand, who also grew up in a broken family and struggled with addiction before coming to Christ. “I’m just grateful God lets me be a part to see guys like Jake come in and see God change them.”

A second chance

While men are at Fishers’ Farm, they share meals together with Hand’s family, study the Bible together, work a job and get involved in church at Strong Tower. They also submit to a 31-day blackout period when they first arrive, which means they can’t use their phones or contact their friends or family.

“This gives them a chance to focus on the Lord,” Hand said. “Most of the men who make it through the blackout period make it to graduate from the program.”

Jones said he loves the way the program aims to offer them both faith and a spiritual community.

“We have the opportunity to take guys whose lives are broken and disciple them,” he said. “These guys not only deal with their sin but also get involved with the church, and then when they get out, we’re finding that they’re staying.”

For more information, visit fishersfarm.org.