Before being redeemed by God, Donnie Foster lived a life of drugs, alcohol and abuse.
He spent a total of 12-1/2 years in prison.
Now, he's been off parole for almost 11 years and clean and sober for almost five years. He ministers God's word to the homeless, alcoholics and drug addicts.
Lee "Aletha" Smithson chronicles Foster's battles and salvation in her book "Facedown: The Donnie Foster Story".
Smithson, originally from Iowa, previously owned Tom's Feed Service in Warsaw with her husband. They moved to Fort Wayne in 1999.
It was at West View Alliance Church where Smithson first met Foster. She got to know him, and the more she got to know him, the more she thought God had preserved Foster and his life so he could share his story.
Smithson previously wrote two books of poetry. When she approached Foster about writing his story, he told her he was just waiting for someone to offer to tell it.
"His is definitely a story of redemption of drug addiction, alcoholism, a real anger problem, a real abuse problem," Smithson said in an interview Tuesday afternoon.
A big part of Foster's story, Smithson said, is how he reconnected to his mother, Pat Goodpaster. She is "May" in the book.
"We were very distant," said Goodpaster.
The book was going to be tough on her, Smithson said, so she got Goodpaster's blessing for it first. Goodpaster said the book turned out well.
This past Easter, Foster baptized his mother. "There wasn't a dry eye in the house," Smithson said.
Foster said when he was growing up, his mother was very co-dependent on her spouses. She didn't know what was going on around her behind closed doors. Now, he said, she knows her self worth, and their relationship has become strong.
"Now you can't interfere between the two of us," said Foster. "We love each other unconditionally."
Goodpaster initially was nervous about the book coming out. "I didn't want everyone to know what he went through when I didn't know," she said. "... I felt better having read it because I didn't know what was going on."
"God has healed us, He's guided us," Foster said. "I love having her with me. We have such a good time."
He said he doesn't blame his mother for anything. She lived in a world of abuse herself, and yet she still managed to protect him, though she never knew all the turmoil he went through. He said she has come to understand that she is a great mother and "worth God's weight in gold."
Because of the life he led, Smithson said Foster is able to minister to drug addicts, alcoholics, the homeless and others.
Foster's change in his life began more than four years ago when he was thrown out of his house by his wife who didn't want to be an abused wife.
He and his wife were going to church, but Foster was smoking marijuana in the basement. He made deliveries for work to Indianapolis, which gave him the opportunity to smoke more. Both he and his wife had mentors to help them, but they didn't tell the mentors about the pot.
"It came to a point where one New Year's Eve, we went to a hotel room and we got a bag of cocaine," Foster said.
The next morning, his wife told him she couldn't look her mentor in the face again because of the previous night. They agreed to go to their mentors and tell them everything.
With their mentors, they agreed to signs contracts. As part of Foster's contract, if he ever did drugs again, his wife had permission to kick him out of their home. Eventually, she found out he was still smoking weed on his trips to Indianapolis. She stuck with the contract, kicked him out and took all his belongings to the church. This occurred not too long after they had their first child together.
Foster was met with an intervention group at the church. He was angry about it, and ended up going to a river. At that river, Foster said, God clearly spoke to him. Foster ended up at a treatment center.
"It hasn't been easy the whole time, but it's been so rewarding," Foster said Tuesday.
Since then, he said he's made his life totally dedicated to Christ, and his life has only changed for the better. God, he said, has put him in a spot where he easily finds compassion and love for others.
"It's a tough story to read," said Smithson. "A lot of mothers tell me it's hard to get through the first third of it."
Smithson said she and Foster are selling and giving the book to others as much as possible. She does book signings wherever possible. Foster said he sent a copy of the book to a Christian movie maker in Oregon.
"My goal with the book is to see who next God will redeem," Foster said.The book, published by Tate Publishing, is available currently online at tatepublishing.com, barnesandnoble.com, borders.com and amazon.com
Foster said he is available to speak to others about his life. "I want God to be able to use me and His word be done," he said.
His e-mail is dkfosdog7@verizon.net and his cell phone is 260-415-6317.
