On Saturday, November 4, 2023, No Longer Bound’s founder Mike Harden was inducted into the Georgia Military Veteran’s Hall of Fame for his service to the community.
The press release for the Military Veteran’s hall of fave induction said, “Immortalizing Great Americans, One At A Time!”
Now, it’s hard to look around No Longer Bound’s campus today, with all our beautiful buildings and dedicated staff, and imagine what Mike fought through in his early years of saving men from addiction.
Of course, it had to be a lonely battle. There are many stories of him not having enough money to keep the lights on. Or, not having enough food to feed the men. Even today, when Mike stops by campus for lunch, he looks up at the lights and asks about our electric bill.
All those years ago, when Mike scoured the streets of Atlanta to help men battling addiction, he wasn’t creating an addiction treatment program or starting a nonprofit. In his gratitude for what God had done in his life, he was honoring the scared commitment our U.S soldiers make to “leave no man behind.” He was fighting to save other men.
But throughout Mike’s years of leading No Longer Bound, he leaned on a verse from Isaiah:
“ . . . the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.”
The passage ends with:
“In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.”
Now, it is estimated that we have more than 1500 “great oaks” in our surrounding community today. They are men living transformed lives, free from addiction. And pointing to the faithfulness of God.
And for that, we are both grateful to God and grateful to Mike.