Mission Waco Manna House Testimony
Mission Waco Manna House Testimony
April 7, 2026
Nazry Mustakim might seem like someone you already know. He works at a manufacturing plant, where he manages its IT systems and studies in his spare time for a Bachelor of Science in cybersecurity. With only two remaining semesters before graduating, Naz's personality radiates playfulness and charisma. As a dedicated father, Naz stays deeply involved in his children's lives and regularly attends their weekly soccer practices. Naz shares his home and love with his two children and a four-legged friend.
On the surface, Naz is full of jokes, vibrancy, and animation. Yet, like many, he carries a much deeper story of transformation—one he has allowed us to share.
In 1992, Naz immigrated to the U.S. from Singapore at the young age of 13. The cultural transition proved difficult, and without a supportive peer network, Naz fell in with the wrong crowd and developed an addiction to drugs. Naz stated, “In 2005 it got really bad, I was arrested 5 times trying to support my habits. A judge told me that I’d better get my head on straight or I’d go to jail.”
Faced with an ultimatum —get help or face prison time, Naz turned to Mission Waco’s Manna House Residential Treatment Program. Because of his Muslim background, Naz had never opened a Bible. “I didn’t necessarily understand what being ‘saved’ meant, but I was desperate to not go to prison.” Naz approached the discongruency between his Muslim identity and Christian recovery path by seeing Christianity not as a religion but as a way of life that promoted healthy habits. His strategy worked until he encountered: “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake" (John 14:11, KJV).
God met Naz in the most unexpected of places. While washing dishes at Manna House, Naz heard the Lord say to him, “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes through the Father except through Me.” As Naz’s hands remained submerged in dirty dishwater, he heard the Lord’s promise, “You are a new creation, your sins are forgiven, and you are now washed clean and are healed.” Naz later exclaimed, “The other guys must’ve thought I hated doing dishes because I broke down and started crying!”
From that moment forward, Naz accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and after a long 40 days of confronting his addiction, Naz mustered the courage to abstain from drugs and has recently celebrated 20 years sober! Naz shared, “I am living proof of God’s evidence that anyone can overcome [addiction] if I can!”
Today, Naz celebrates a life of freedom, both physically and spiritually. He said, "Jesus has never stopped saving my soul ever since he washed me clean that one day back in 2006 .”
