BY MICHELLE KEY
MICHELLE@OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
PHOTOS BY EDWARD SIKORA FOR THE OBSERVER
LEE COUNTY —
Harvest Evangelism, home of His Place and Hosanna Home, hosted its 43rd Harvest Banquet Monday, Oct. 2, at First Baptist in Opelika. The annual event is one of the major fundraisers for the organization every year. His Place and Hosanna Home house men and women who are struggling with addiction.
Founder Rick Hagans talked about the first banquet and the reason why the programs exist.
“We had 19 people there that night and I think we’re looking at 300 here tonight all told,” Hagan said. “So thank you for being here.”
The organization was originally named the East Alabama Challenge, but Rick said the name Harvest Evangelism came from the ‘HE’ – as in HE is the reason for the program.
“I love all of you,” Hagans said. “But if we don’t do this for the love of God or the glory of God, then we [have] shot too low, so thank you all so much for being here.”
Hagans’ wife Kim, is now the director of Hosanna Home.
“I have the honor and the privilege of being the director at Hosanna Home,” Kim said. “I helped start it back in 1996. The Lord in His grace and mercy to me, allowed me to become the director about two and a half years ago. I hate to call Hosanna Homa job, but I’m gonna tell you, it’s the best job I’ve ever had. Absolutely love what I get to do.”
Kim shared with the crowd about how women come to them lost, afraid, sometimes pregnant with no husband and addicted to drugs. She spoke of the love of Jesus and how there is hope in Him, and a freedom that can only be found in His word.
“That’s what I do at Hosanna home,” Kim said. “I share with them that there was freedom. It came at a great cost. And all it costs them is the willingness to say yes, yes, I will accept that ‘fairy tale’ that is unbelievable. And receive that into my own heart. And I will be set free.”
Kim then introduced Jessica and Dustin Howell. Their story is unusual, and even, out of the norm.
“We have a husband and a wife team at Hosanna home and His Place,” Kim said. “And please don’t do this; this is out of the norm, but God kind of bypassed all the norm this day and his [Dustin’s] mother just dropped them off at Hosanna Home. We said we don’t we don’t do that, and [well,] we’ve been doing it for about 10 months now. But, you know what, God is in the business of saving men and women and families.”
Jessica was the first of the couple to share her story.
“I’m 37 years old and I’m from Cordova, Alabama,” Howell said. “I’m a wife, a mother; and I’m proof of God’s redeeming love. I grew up in church. I went [to] VBS I went to church every Sunday [and] every Wednesday.”
However, Jessica’s deep-seated belief in God, also brought anxiety. She said that she believed that she had to live an almost perfect life, or else it wouldn’t matter what she did. She said that she walked away from God until she could “live better.”
Jessica said that she spent the next 20 years living life, drinking, partying and experiencing a failed marriage, and the blessing of a daughter named Jayden. She met Dustin in June 2020, they married in 2021 and had a daughter, Harper, in May 2022.
Jessica spoke openly about her marriage to Dustin and how he had been upfront with her about his drug addiction and his recovery efforts at the time.
“I didn’t worry about that because I was strong enough to save him,” Jessica said. “Well, the fact is, he did fall to his addiction again. At first, I just talked to him, supporting him, [thinking] we could get through it. That quickly turned to doing it along with him — I didn’t want him to feel all alone. So that’s what I did. In the six months we used together, our marriage deteriorated rapidly.”
Jessica said that their lives quickly deteriorated, even to the point that the children were removed from their care. Unfortunately, she said that even that was not the wake-up call that they needed. That wake-up came later, after Dustin attempted suicide by taking Fentanyl.
“I began screaming at him, shaking him, I cried out to God begging him to save him,” Jessica said. “I was running out of hope, and running out of strength. I knew we didn’t deserve it. God not only heard, he listened. And he breathed his life back into my husband. At that moment, I made the choice to get us help.”
Dustin spoke about his decision to join his wife as she sought help.
“My mother, my wife gave me an ultimatum if you will,” Dustin said. “My mother looked at me. She goes, ‘Your wife’s going to Auburn at 10 o’clock in the morning to get better for her family.’ She goes, ‘that does include you, if, you are in that car at 10 o’clock in the morning. If you are in that car at 10 o’clock in the morning, thank you. If you’re not, go finish what you was doing, because ain’t nobody gonna be here to save you anymore.’”
Dustin said that he slept on his mother’s driveway that night, in the backseat of the car with his wife. The couple credits the work done by Rick and Kim, the others and most importantly, God, for teaching them how to truly live and giving them a chance at recovery. Ten months and two days after arriving at Hosanna Home and His Place, the couple was granted full custody again of their children.
The Director of His Place, Kenny Young, also had a message to share.
“These guys come in broken,” Young said. “I’ve had guys come in, you would not believe how their life has transformed from this moment. You look at them now. And they’re just, they’re glowing and beautiful.”
According to Rick, the fundraising goal for the event was $120,000. He said that there are 17 buildings with electricity that make up His Place and Hosanna Home. The residents are not charged a fee during their time at His Place or Hosanna Home.
“How can we charge when Jesus — the Word of God says — ‘Freely, freely, you have received’” Rick asked. “He did not charge me; I am not going to charge them.”
Currently, there are 48 men housed at His Place and 14 women at Hosanna Home. The average cost per man is $1,500 a day and it’s $2,200 per woman. This total reflects utilities, insurance, salaries of staff, food costs and more.
There are several ways that people can give to Harvest Evangelism to help with its mission.
- A one-time gift
- Monthly support
- In-kind gifts
- Time
For more information visit the website www.harvestevangelism.org/.
The video from Monday night’s banquet can be viewed on the website as well.
