Brian Leuci has a powerful story of despair, strength, and redemption in Christ. He grew up in poverty and found himself dealing and using drugs by the time he reached his teens.This lifestyle continued into adulthood and followed him into his marriage.
Today, he’s a paramedic with a healthy marriage, a new baby, and is heavily involved in an outreach which shares Christ’s love with broken people that much of society deems unworthy. This radical life transformation occurred only because God’s grace was shown to Brian in his darkest time.
Three years ago, Brian’s wife Heather walked away after years of dealing with the drug dealing, partying, and alcohol. Heather had always had faith and couldn’t stand by and watch the downward spiral any longer. This turning point brought Brian to his knees, broken and in desperate need of a savior he had never known.
Brian called his friend of 25 years, Heath Duncan. Heath had dealt drugs with Brian, gotten out of that lifestyle, and found his way to Pathway Church and Pastor Todd Carter’s men’s group. When Heath got the phone call, he was on his way home from a missions trip to Haiti. He prayed for his longtime friend right then and there. Brian says there was a definitive change in that very moment and he knew he was forever changed and forgiven for it all.
After a year of mending through counseling and growing closer to Christ, Brian and Heather’s marriage was restored. Their family found a church home at Pathway. Brian’s journey also brought him into a leadership role with Second Chance Industries, an outreach that has a foundation in bail bonds but seeks to reach much further into broken lives and foster healing, spiritual growth, and job stability. Brian’s goal with this group is to take people that have been forgotten by society and show them who they are in Christ.
Another dynamic of Brian’s role at Second Chance Industries is connecting people with jobs. Oftentimes, addiction, former jail time, or other circumstances leads to joblessness.Brian works within general construction and lawn care to get people back to work and back to a healthy life.
Brian has allowed God’s grace to transform him by relinquishing control of his life. He uses his testimony to meet others in broken places and help them find hope, healing, and life change. To Brian and Heather, Second Chance is more than a company name; it’s what they’ve received through Christ’s love at Pathway Church and what they seek to extend to othersin need.
BY JESSICA WILLIAMSON | PHOTO BY JIM OERTLE