SHERIDAN, Wyo. (BP) – There are many people and situations Chance Haux can thank for his getting right with God. But perhaps the most unlikely may be Kool-Aid.
He was in the Worland, Wyo., jail at the time. By this point in his life, Haux was a living combination of Merle Haggard and Hank Williams Jr. lyrics. A two-time state prisoner in Oregon as well as his native Wyoming, he had fallen in line with a family tradition steeped in addiction and substance abuse and burned more bridges than he could count.
A stint in solitary came after getting caught with contraband, in this case a packet of red Kool-Aid.
He had been going to the Bible studies for a respite from time in the pod, but also because of aspirations to be more like his Uncle Dawson, a man of faith. The question “Who is Jesus?” kept coming to his mind and Haux looked for answers in sources other than the Bible, from books to shows on The History Channel.
The Kool-Aid found in his cell led to eight days of personal lockdown. The only source he had available was the Bible.
“I read Matthew, Mark and Luke and got to the crucifixion in John,” he said. “It was like when Paul had his come-to-Jesus moment. I just dropped and gave myself over, asked for forgiveness and started to forgive others.”
A church of second chances
Haux’s background has led to serving as pastor of Sheridan Recovery Church in Sheridan, Wyo. It’s a different church, one where those looking for second chances are actively sought out. When the pastor says he’s been there, he literally has.
“Forgiving people wasn’t natural for me,” he said. “But I felt peace for the first time. I gave my life to Jesus and stopped doing things like cussing. I started going to treatment. I decided that this type of ministry was going to be my life.”
Forgiving wasn’t easy because of the home in which he was raised. His parents divorced at 15 and Haux went to live with his mother, from whom he learned about drug addiction. At 18 he started smoking cigarettes and quickly graduated to marijuana.
At 19 years old he lost his dad. Haux moved to Portland and ended up homeless, getting involved in gang life. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, he said, put him back in prison for meth possession.
He eventually moved back to Wyoming. He was married with two children, but also a raging drunk. A domestic violence charge returned him to prison and ended the marriage. A fall off a roof led to opiate abuse.
On Dec. 21, 2018, Haux was on bond and prepared to take his own life.
“My marriage had dissolved. Life was over as I saw it. I was going to hang myself under the bridge in Worland,” he said.
Haux had to check in with a probation officer each night. He took a shot of vodka before doing so that evening.
“That officer – who is now one of my best friends – arrested me,” Haux said. “He saw something different in my eyes, though, and took me upstairs. God interceded right then, and I ended up sitting in jail for over four months.”
It led him to start attending Bible studies, to think about being like people like his Uncle Dawson, to ultimately start a new road and help others do the same.
The road back
His environment changed upon release. Haux began working as a janitor at The Rock Church of the Bighorns, an evangelical non-denominational congregation in Sheridan. He credits the church’s pastor, Tri Robinson, with prompting him to lead an addiction recovery group six weeks after he began there.
“He prepared me and counseled me,” Haux said. “The group went from eight or nine to over 30.”
Haux also began attending Gateway Seminary while leading the recovery group. He recently graduated the classes hosted at Mountain View Fellowship, a Southern Baptist church, in Sheridan.
The small group had grown to the point that talk of it becoming a church had been rolling. Haux spoke with Jim Coonis, Mountain View’s pastor, on helping support the new congregation.
“He told me he was tired of watching his friends die on the street,” said Coonis. “I felt an overwhelming sense of God speaking to me in that moment and felt we had to do something.”
Many years earlier one of Mountain View’s deacons, Dawson Haux, had requested prayer for his nephew’s family that was mired in addiction. Periodic updates included Chance’s jail time, salvation and treatment for addiction. The Rock, where he came to work as a janitor, is one block from Coonis’ house.
One day Coonis walked into the room in Mountain View’s basement that hosted Gateway’s classes. A guy there looked just like his former deacon, Dawson Haux.
The relationship grew to the point Mountain View came to be Sheridan Recovery’s sending church. It has continued to support the young congregation in various ways, including contributing to the discipleship house.
“We see the effects of drug and alcohol abuse every day,” said Coonis. “There is a lot of counseling, but not a lot of healing. We know the answer to that is in Christ.”
A home for healing
Launched on Jan. 7, Sheridan Recovery Church meets at Mountain View. It also provides housing at a separate location for those recently-incarcerated while helping them develop a more solid spiritual foundation. A nine-bedroom group home includes office space for Haux and a bedroom for another pastor. There is also a chapel, two kitchens, a downstairs living area and break room. Fourteen men live there.
An additional recovery/discipleship house is being established with plans to add more. The ages for residents range from 19 to 72.
While addiction hits individuals, its effects can be felt in 100 percent of a congregation – not just Sheridan Recovery’s.
“When you get out of jail or treatment, you get a diploma and pretty much a ‘good-luck-to-you,’” said Haux. “We want to step in and disciple these guys.”
Christmas Day will make the five-year anniversary of his mother being off drugs. He married his wife, Leanne, on June 25, 2022.
The couple have a son – Dawson.
Leanne, also a Sheridan native and former military police officer, understands the need for grace alongside a spirit of accountability.
“You want to love on them without enabling them,” she said. “This is very personal for us, because we lived it. When we started this, people were dying of fentanyl overdoses and there was death everywhere. If we can bring about some understanding for these guys and influence them for good, let them know that God loves them despite their past, they would see the truth in God’s love.
“Chance has lived this. He wants to influence and invest in them the way others did for him”
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