A former drug addict and homeless man thanked a police officer in South Carolina for giving him his personal copy of the Holy Bible which, he said, changed him for the better.
The Greenville County Sheriff's Office recently released a video of Robert Morris who was given a Bible by Police Officer Matt Holman in 2014 after the latter found Morris walking in the streets alone and wet.
"He was one of the nicest people I've ever met in my life," Morris said of Holman in a phone call to the police department, according to the Christian News Network.
Morris said he was living in a tent when he became addicted to drug and alcohol. After it was washed away by flood, he started walking in the streets.
Holman saw Morris walking at 2 a.m., talked to him and then took him to a church.
"He had lost his mom and dad. He had lost his sister. After losing his sister, he got addicted to drugs and alcohol," Holman narrated.
Morris' addiction led to him becoming estrange to his two siblings.
During their talk, Holman asked Morris what he needed.
"[The deputy] said, 'You need anything?' and I said, 'Yeah, I need a Bible,'" Morris said. "So he got in his trunk, and he thought he had an extra Bible back there that he keeps for those occasions, but he couldn't find one."
What Holman could only find was his personal Bible, which he cherished.
"I wrestled with the fact that I knew my personal Bible was in the car and I didn't necessarily want to give that up. I wrote in this Bible, done Bible studies out of it with my brothers [and] highlighted things, and it meant a lot to me. I was really attached to that Bible," he said.
He eventually decided to give it to Morris. "But I kind of felt like God was telling me, 'He needs this more than you do,'" he said. He also bought Morris a meal before they parted ways.
The Bible changed Morris' life. After six months, he called Holman to say thanks.
"He said, 'Officer, you don't understand. Because of what you'd done, I checked myself back into mental health, I was able to get regulated with my medication [and] I reconciled my relationship with my brother [and] my sister," said Holman, who was also glad that Morris was no longer homeless.
"What you had done that night saved my life," Morris said.
In a card he sent to Holman, Morris wrote, "I just needed to let you know you will be very rewarded in Heaven. ... I was at my lowest. Never had hopes or dreams. I still can't believe a sheriff's deputy was going to be my hero."
Unfortunately, Morris died in March last year and the sheriff's office said he passed away "a changed and renewed man."
