Jeff Courtier shares his incredible story of how he overcame sexual, physical and emotional abuse as a child and later drug and alcohol addiction and lots of trouble with the law to become a director of Celebrate Recovery as well as an assistant pastor at The Rock Church in Scottsbluff
JEFF FIELDER Editor
SCOTTSBLUFF – Jeff Courtier doesn’t look like the same person he was about 10 years ago.
He’s dressed well, his hair is neatly combed, and his body frame seems to hold his 195 pounds well – at least compared to the 325 pounds he used to weigh.
But it’s not just the outside that’s different about Courtier. He’s also gone through a massive transformation inside – to the point of being almost unbelievable.
He’s no longer angry at the world, and it shows with his polite and soft spoken demeanor – not to mention the frequent smiles he flashes. He has a zest for life, too, wanting to make the most of every day he’s alive.
He also has a clear-cut mission these days, which is to try to bring peace and healing to as many people as he can while serving as the director of Celebrate Recovery. The other part of his mission – as an assistant pastor at The Rock Church in Scottsbluff – is to help people learn more about Jesus.
“People who know my past are blown away that I’m a pastor now,” said the 43-year-old Courtier as yet another smile crosses his face. “I’m a little blown away by it, too, but I also know that God has called me to do this because of what I went through.”
What Courtier has gone through is a lot – more than what most people have gone through.
To say that Courtier had a rough life growing up would be an understatement. His parents divorced when he was 2, and he spent about the next 15 years constantly moving, leading to him attending numerous elementary and middle schools as well as five different high schools.
That was hardly the worst part about his childhood, though. He was physically and emotionally abused – and sometimes even sexually abused – by the people who would come in and out of his life. He also had to hear his mom get beaten often by her husband.
He finally reached his breaking point one night when he was 11. During another fight that resulted in his mom getting beaten again, Courtier pulled out a gun and pointed it at his mom’s husband. Courtier wasn’t going to hesitate to kill this man, except his mom quickly jumped in front of the gun.
You can read the entire story in the December issue of Nspire Today! magazine. A one-year subscription (12 issues) is only $15. You may sign up for a subscription by sending $15 to Nspire Today!, P.O. Box 454, Scottsbluff, NE 69363, or you may pay with a credit card by calling 308-220-8865.
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