A Reason to Live

A boy quivers in fear at the sight of his unhinged mother. It’s dark, and she’s raving again. “Take these pills with me,” she tells him, “and all the pain will go away.” This was only th beginning for Joseph Acevai. His mother tried to convince him to commit suicide. She brainwashed him into believing his father was a monster. She kidnapped him from the life he knew and forced him to live under a false name. These horrors led Joe to the life of a high school dropout, a drug abuser and dealer, and then to a jail cell at Riker’s Island. From out of these depts, Joseph Carlucci Adevai found God. Through His grace, he shook his addictions and conquered his demons. Now he is the Senior Pastor of Grace Church of North Brunswick, CEO of Serenity Springs Recovery Center, retired senior vice president of a $25 billion company, and proud husband and father. Pastor Joe has made and lived through nearly every mistake imaginable. His life is proof that everyone—no matter who they are, how they struggle, or what they’ve done—has a reason to live.