Today he knows…
“God had a plan from the very beginning”

 Life for Tom Paschke began in Seattle, Washington in 1961. Born with a serious defect, he had a “rough start.” Tom’s windpipe was not connected.
When he was only seven hours old he went through a surgical procedure which took seven and a half hours to perform. After that he was placed on a feeding tube until healing was complete. Throughout Tom’s first five years he spent much time in the hospital. He was in and out frequently. During this period he developed bronchial pneumonia and stopped breathing at least three or four times.

When he started school he became a good student and received “straight A grades” through the first eight years. He not only excelled academically, but athletically. He enjoyed baseball, football and basketball . Tom’s Dad was a good influence on him in his early years. He was his coach. And Tom says, “He was tough on me.”

For Tom’s 14th birthday one of his friends gave him five marijuana cigarettes as a gift. This was the start of his addiction. When he first experienced marijuana he “liked it and kept at it.” He still maintained good grades. At a 9th grade party he got drunk and passed out. Later he wondered how he got home and into bed. All through high school Tom was a member of the Honor Society. He was classed as a “jock.” Everybody liked him. He had no problem making friends, and was voted “the one with the best personality.”

As the years progressed, marijuana was very much a part of his life. He used alcohol on the weekends, which he “smuggled” from a liquor store. Tom admits his parents “spoiled him” — even though he was not their only child. He has an older sister and two younger brothers. In spite of their goodness to him, Tom stole from his parents to pay for his habits.

He entered college, but “quit” after one year. Actually, he was asked to leave.
His first job was at a Westin Hotel in downtown Seattle. He worked as a Porter on the 3-11 shift and received good tips, but also stole from his employer. This is when he started heavily into cocaine.

He advanced to the position of Bellman, and many days his tips totaled $150 or more. As he says, he “had money to burn.” And that’s just what he did! Sometime between 1982 and 1984 he started smoking crack cocaine. He never used needles, however.

Tom claims he got a “rush” from cocaine. This led to cheating, lying and stealing. At his next job he worked on the docks and in warehouses. He met a girl who was a bartender at a place where he often stopped. A relationship began, and soon she became pregnant. She stopped doing drugs while pregnant. In March of 1985, young Thomas entered the world. Later in the year, at Tom’s family’s urging, he and Thomas’ mother were married, but they divorced a year and a half after their marriage. She left because of Tom’s drug and alcohol addiction. Tom continued being involved in sports, and coached baseball with his Dad for about 14 years.

One of Tom’s co-workers, “a former Colony guy,” encouraged him to seek help at KESWICK. Tom doesn’t remember ever contacting KESWICK, or hearing from the Colony, but his friend kept asking him if he’d received any information. One evening, while talking on the telephone with his co-worker, Tom was thumbing through the local newspaper. When he reached the sports section he found a manila envelope from KESWICK. He has no idea how it got there. There was no postage on the envelope, but it had arrived addressed to Tom, and there was an application enclosed.

Some time passed, but Tom completed the application and was invited to come to the Colony. He really didn’t want to come, and wondered why he should fly across the country to New Jersey. It took some convincing from his family, especially his son. Even on his way to the airport Tom wanted to turn back. When it was time to board, he thought “no way,” but 14 year old Thomas said, “Dad, you need to go!”
Tom entered the program February 10th, 1999, and March 1st, at 12:43 p.m. in the ping pong room, he accepted Christ as his Savior. Life changed for Tom, and before long he realized how blessed he was.
Prior to coming to KESWICK, Tom had never been in a church. He had never read the Bible, but before long he and one of the Disciples, also a baseball fan, began to read the Bible together each night. The story of David and Goliath was special to Tom. Lamentations 3:1-21 was also a striking portion of Scripture to him, particularly verses 19, 20 and 21. He felt that those verses described his life, but now he had hope. At a Men’s Fellowship Night, not long before Tom completed the program, he met a group of men from a nearby church.

They took a particular interest in him. After hearing his “story,” they purchased a ticket for young Thomas to come to KESWICK and witness his Dad’s graduation. Tom returned to Seattle with his son and took credit for his “progress.” Unfortunately, he did not continue in the Word and before long he was back into his old sinful lifestyle.

One day he received a phone call from Bill Welte. When Bill asked him how he was doing, he wanted to lie and say “Fine,” but he couldn’t. So he replied, “not well!”
Bill invited him back, and the application procedure began once again. At that time, Doug Barger was the Colony Administrator. Tom remembers saying to Doug, “I’ll do anything.” He confessed that earlier in the year he “faked his way through.” He returned to the program on November 16, 1999, and learned that the same bed he had occupied earlier was available for him.

Shortly after his arrival, Tom met Ken Brown, Director of Maintenance at KESWICK. Ken thought Tom was visiting, but soon learned he had come back into the program. One of the first things Ken told him was “What you need to do, Tom, is fall in love with Jesus. Make Him the Lord of your life.” He soon realized he had to quit loving himself. To help Tom learn this, it was suggested that at breakfast time instead of being the first in line to help himself to the cereal, he needed to be first in order to hand trays to the other men. He needed to begin to learn to serve others. This act really helped Tom see himself as he was, and some of the changes he needed to make. When he first arrived at KESWICK, he had no trade skills. As he worked in the greenhouse he watched seeds develop and he related the process to his own life.

On December 10th, 1999 Tom got down on his knees and rededicated his life to Jesus Christ and told Him he was “willing to do whatever He wanted.” He prayed out loud, and started his prayer life with conversational prayer. He admitted to the Lord that he “had to get away from himself.”

As Tom neared the end of the regular four month stay, he applied for additional time in the Discipleship Program. His request was granted, and his pastoral covenant was with a pastor at a nearby church. Two weeks before the end of his extended stay, Tom felt everything was in place for the future. He thought he had a place to live and a job in a warehouse, but he was mistaken as both “fell through.”

God shut those doors, but he opened another for Tom — when he was offered a position at KESWICK in the Housekeeping Department. Today Tom is Director of the Housekeeping staff. He has said many times how blessed he is to have the opportunity to lead in morning devotions with the men in his department, and to share with those who have faced some of the same difficulties he experienced. He feels he has “come full circle” as he is now living back in the Colony building along with the men.
Tom is always eager to share that next to receiving God’s gift of eternal life, the greatest blessing in his life is the restored relationship he has with his son. Young Thomas visits Tom on a regular basis. He is now 18, and has recently become a college student. Tom would appreciate your prayers for Thomas, especially for him to come to know the Lord as his personal Savior