The Salvation Army's Red Shield Appeal is this weekend. One of those asking people to give generously is a man who says his life was transformed by the Salvos, and he was able to meet members of the Bali nine.
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Mat Kratiuk says he turned his life around with the help of the Salvos, and is now looking for a job in sales or account management. But this week he is encouraging people to donate when they see the Salvos in shopping centres or during the weekend doorknock.
Mr Kratiuk recently graduated from the Salvation Army's Dooralong Transformation Centre.
At 17, he left home for Queensland where he said he spent the next 10 years graduating in the underworld.
"By the age of 25 I was known as 'Chaos'," he said.
"That was my name and I was renowned for being just that. I was drug addicted, quick to anger and a threat to anyone foolish enough to expose their vulnerability.
"But one day I would have a moment of clarity and realised my life was completely out of control and it was only a matter of time before I ended up dead or in jail for a very long time."
Mr Kratiuk moved to Perth but became involved with a motorcycle gang. He ended up in hospital with broken bones.
He says he returned to Sydney with nothing but a drug addiction.
"This was my lowest point and I was in absolute hell."
Mr Kratiuk says he felt completely empty and decided it was the end of the road. But something happened in that moment and he stopped thinking about himself and started thinking about his family.
He used his phone to look up rehabilitation centres and found the Dooralong Transformation Centre.
But he says recovery wasn't easy because he had lived a life of violence and gang mentality for 17 years.
Within four weeks, though, things began to change and he started to trust people.
"Suddenly I exploded with emotion," he said.
"The next 10 months in the program was something I could never imagine in my wildest dreams. I would be completely restored physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually."
Mr Kratiuk then studied business at TAFE and graduated with an outstanding achievement award. And this month he received the prestigious industry excellence award.
Mr Kratiuk said the Salvos had set him free from drugs."The Salvos did not just save my life," he said.
"What they did went so much further than that. "
After graduating Mr Kratiuk spent three months working as a carpenter but when his testimony spread like wildfire on social media a well-known pastor in Asia asked him to fly to Indonesia.
He used the $6000 he had saved and spent 10 weeks travelling through Asia working in churches, orphanages and prisons.
"I spent some time ministering with the Bali nine and became a dear friend of Andrew Chan," he said.
"Andrew and I shared a very similar transformation story and his passion for Christ was like no other."
"I want you all to keep something in mind," he said.
"The money that you donate does not only save the lives of men like me. It impacts the lives of the people that I now impact. In other words it is like the gift that just keeps on giving."
