My name is Cory Enderby.

I started Jesus Fresus last year so that I could explain to homeless people the hope I have in Jesus to deliver them from whatever chains they are being held in bondage to.

I myself was homeless for about a year and half and a slave to numerous lusts of the flesh. I found myself with tremendous pain, feelings of hopelessness and despair.
I had just given up on life. 

Before I became a homeless person, I remember sitting in my apartment alone. I think I had stayed in there for days and days. I had consumed many drugs and I just wanted rest for my heart. I was just recently divorced for the second time. My two kids were living with another man now. I couldn't muster up the energy to care about anything anymore.
I felt so empty inside. I just wanted to be loved. I just wanted peace..

I reached for a very sharp divers knife and I was just about to end my life when, I decided that I would ask God if He was really there. I had read the Bible as a kid and I prayed with a pastor at age 12, but I had never really known Jesus. I asked Him, "God, if you are really there, please let me know, and I won't do this". Sure enough, He answered. I felt a wave of peace flood the room and overtake me. It was more intense than anything I had felt before. It was WAY more intense than any of the drugs that I had taken over the last half of my life. It lasted for about about a minute or so. After that I knew that He was real. I decided to choose to live, and find out more about Him. 

I moved to Midland, TX from Dallas. My step dad told me about a Christian drug program called Teen Challenge. I decided to get checked into the program so that I could hopefully be set free from the drugs that had continued to plague my life. After all, I had already tried all of the other methods:  Medications, counseling, several secular rehabs, and even AA, but nothing seemed to work for me. It was worth a try.

I ended up staying with a local Christian family until I could get admitted into the Teen Challenge program. I stayed sober and maintained so well that after about a month, they offered to help me start a lawn care company there in Midland. I guess they thought that I was doing so well that maybe I didn't need the program anymore. But soon after that, I decided to go and get high.

After only two months of being sober, I blew it again. This time I was worse off, having turned my back on God. This family told me to go to Teen Challenge or else.  I decided that maybe the Christian life wasn't for me. I thought that there were too many rules and you couldn't really enjoy the pleasures of this world to the fullest. So I had them drop me off along the interstate. I decided to set out and travel. I thought this will be cool. I will go to Austin and check it out and then, "Who Knows?" 

I only lasted one day. It was so hot and dry in the desert I almost died. My face was completely scorched from the sun. I ended up going to a local Salvation Army. And the first two months I did really well. I wrote my first song for God. I started singing and playing music in the church. 

But then I started visiting a local coffee shop downtown and noticed that other musicians were playing there. I thought, "Hey, I can do that." So I started playing music in the secular arena. It wasn't long after, that I started becoming interested in the things of the world and using drugs again. 

Soon I had lost both of my jobs, I was homeless, and heading north during the late October on foot. I was so high when I decided to do this, that I bet the enemy thought if he could get me out on the highway in the cold, I would probably die. I also reasoned with myself that maybe if I got out on the road, away from the world, I would finally become sober by not having access to money and the stores I used to buy my drugs in. It didn't matter that it was forty or less degrees outside at that time. I had no clue how to survive that way. I almost died twice. I remember once hearing the Lord speak to me and revive me. He asked me why I was doing this. I told Him all my reasons and He let me go.

So I set out and began to travel across the country in the freezing cold weather. The sad thing is I never stopped using drugs. I just kept meeting people, traveling, flying signs, playing guitar on corners, eating food wherever I could get it and using drugs. It became a very lonely and painful time for me. I didn't know how it all would end...

Some time later, I damaged my right lateral meniscus and I had to settle in a homeless shelter in Ukiah, Ca. I had probably worn it out from all the miles I had put on my knees. And since I didn't have any insurance at that time, I had to wait for an opening in the state doctor's busy schedule. So I ended up waiting several months for the surgery.

Over those months, God began to reveal Himself to me again and again. He really wanted me set free. The way that He pursued me and stayed with me is incomprehensible in this body. He had seen the pain that it was causing me and my kids. Every time I called them they would say, "Dad, when are you going to come and get me?", and I would think to myself, "They have no idea what I am going through. What I am like now. Where I am. There is no way that I can let them see me like this."  They just had no idea. And I didn't either.

So I did what I thought was the next best thing. I stopped calling.  

Singing for Money 2004                                 Homeless on a bus in CA  2004

But God was calling me and He was making it real clear that He had enough. A year had gone by and I had made no progress with sobriety. So after much grace and conviction by the Holy Spirit, I made a choice to repent.

One night after using drugs, I checked out of the homeless shelter that I had been staying at in Ukiah, CA. I cut my hair, tore off all my jewelry, and smashed my guitar into pieces. My guitar was the tool that brought all the things into my life that I didn't need. I decided to leave town and start over. But I could feel Jesus telling me to stay there in Ukiah and repent. I really didn't want to though. I thought it would be easier if I just went somewhere else where no one knows me. I was scared, but Jesus gave me grace and I went back to the shelter. The next morning I asked a guy at the shelter to shave my head completely. I had long hair at the time, which helped me identify with certain people while traveling. I also changed my clothing style and separated myself from everyone. It was one of the hardest things that I have ever done. Initially I received many strange looks from people. They must have thought I was crazy, which wasn't totally abnormal for Mendocino County, CA. But I knew that this is what God wanted me to do. So I stayed in His Word every day and I finally came up for housing and was chosen out of many people that were in line. I knew God was in control and I was strongly favored by Him for repenting.

I also applied for a job and got it. I was finally able to start getting caught up on child support and all my debts that had been piling up on me. I also got involved in a local church where I became a music minister for the morning service. Life was beginning to look clearer for me.

I thought all my problems were over and behind me when one day I decided to take the pain medication that was given to me from my knee surgery. The flesh rose up and I thought, "Surely it's ok to take if it’s from a doctor." And even though my knee didn't even really hurt that bad, I took it anyway.

A month to two months later, I had lost everything and I was walking down the interstate back to Texas. I had no money, no backpack, nothing but a thin pullover jacket... Why and how could this happen? And so fast...

This is a spiritual war. I had let my guard down and relaxed. I gave into the thoughts and desires of the flesh and ignored this scripture, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."

I was learning...

After about a month, I finally made it to Nacogdoches, TX closer to my mother and two kids. I decided that I would stop by my mother's work. It was the first time that she had seen me in a while.

When she saw me, she had mercy on me and convinced me to stay. While I was there I still continued to rebel against the Lord and ended up being placed on probation. I think at this point I realized that anytime I used drugs, bad things were going to happen.

And I finally got tired of it. I had lost too much, too many times. I was done. I checked into a local homeless shelter in Nacogdoches called GODTEL- Gods Open Door To Eternal Life. I stayed in God's Word everyday and avoided everyone that was thinking in line with the world. I completely separated myself from the world for the next year or so. Believe me, it wasn't easy. After I had been delivered from all my demons, I noticed that these demons began to make it more known to me just how mad they were that they had lost their vessel. I kept fighting, praying, and reading Gods Word every day. Over time, it got a little easier. The important thing for me was to never let up on the daily discipline of reading and abiding in God's Word, prayerfully walking with the Lord, and the accountability and friendship with other brothers and sisters in Christ.

I began this ministry because God has given me a heart for homeless people. I have been there and I know all that they go through. But most importantly, I know a way out. My wife and I sincerely hope that we can reach as many people as possible before the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ!

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free!
John 8:32

Jesus Fresus...