About Desperate Reality
Desperate Reality is a unique program of the New Orleans Mission and the Giving Hope Retreat. The purpose of the program is to provide immediate help to people in desperate situations willing to make hard changes in their lives. Johnny Lonardo, "Johnny L", after losing everything he thought brought him identity, being without hope and without God, would dramatically be changed, ONLY through the mercy and grace of God, and through faith in Jesus Christ alone, he learned to "Let Go and Let God". Since his re-birth as a Christian, Johnny is known to have rescued people off the street to bring them into his own home. Today, Johnny is the Director of the Giving Hope Retreat and works closely with his long-time friend, New Orleans Mission Executive Director David Bottner and together they are being used as instruments by God for the work of the Lord.
The New Orleans Mission is the largest, full service Christian charity in the Gulf South and is an Interdenominational organization. Established in 1989, the New Orleans Mission is a private 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization initially created as a service provider for a growing population of homeless men living in the city. It is the largest faith based private service provider among 60 shelters catering to the homeless population of New Orleans.
The Mission serves over 250,000 hot meals a year and provides shelter for over 200 men and 32 women nightly. Mission Disciples receive services that address the physical, social, mental and spiritual areas of their life. This is all being done through the Mission’s ultimate goal for providing every resident with the three “R’s”: RESCUE - RECOVERY - RE-ENGAGEMENT.
The Giving Hope Retreat is located in Lacombe, LA and sits on 58 acres of land just across the lake from New Orleans.
Johnny Lonardo "Johnny L" - Host
In 1998, John Lonardo was in the darkest time of his life. It was six years earlier that he was invited to a church and heard the Gospel that Jesus Christ was Lord God and Savior and would forgive him of all his sin and give him eternal life. At that time he called on Jesus to save him. It wasn’t long before John, not having understanding, believed the lie that he was not good enough to be a child of God and continued to live the same way. However, a seed was planted; and God would be faithful to His promise that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Six years later the Lord Jesus Christ revealed himself to John in a very dramatic way. The reality to John in this, his great time of desperation, was his own “desperate reality”. At the same time it was the greatest Hope he would ever know. He truly knew that Jesus was Lord and had died for sinners, of which he felt chief; and his life changed in a moment.
From that time on John gained an understanding of the Truth, revealed by the Spirit of God. For the last 16 years the Lord has brought numerous men to John’s home. There he could love and help them to know God through Jesus, the one who would lead them out of their desperation and save them. The Lord showed John how to minister to men and women, find shelter for them, and get the help that they needed.
He was learning, as he ministered to the physical needs of people, that these same people were receptive to hear and believe the Gospel message. Sometimes, John found that the people to whom he was ministering would need to be detoxed and then placed in a Christian discipleship program (or a believer’s home) where they would spend 3-12 months learning to know and follow Christ.
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