#58 Raising Cain: From 10-Year-Old Heroin Addict to Prison Evangelist - Cain Kellerman
Cain Kellerman became addicted to heroin as a 10-year-old boy and saw his life quickly spiral out of control after that... his life held no hope and he simply stopped caring about anything. And even if his life did have a purpose, how could he break free from his addictions?
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The following is a summary of the podcast interview above with Cain Kellerman. Many more details are included in the original podcast episode and we encourage you to listen.
Written by Jace Bower
Note: Names have been changed in the following story.
Growing Up in “Murder-apolis”
Cain Kellerman grew up in a neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, that earned the nickname “Murder-apolis” from locals due to the violence and crime that went on there.
Cain’s family was not religious and Cain only found himself within the four walls of a church at funerals or weddings. The Christians that Cain knew weren’t much different from anyone else. Cain learned at a young age to not care. The message he received from the world around him was that nothing really mattered. Cain took this message to heart.
At the age of ten, Cain was introduced to heroin. He quickly became addicted.
Losing Childhood
Cain was tall for his age and he could grow a beard early on. He looked like an adult and started to act like one. He was extremely independent and continued to go deeper into an addiction to drugs and alcohol.
When he was twelve years old, his good friend was shot on a street corner while Cain was just a block away. He had to hold his friend’s girlfriend back while the boy died.
When Cain was thirteen his dad was involved in a serious car wreck. The family moved to a small town in rural Minnesota to escape the financial pressures that the wreck had caused.
The Last One Left Behind
Cain didn’t fit in well at the new school. He was a city kid and got in trouble at school by starting fights.
The entire time he was growing up he was still entrenched in his addiction to drugs and alcohol. He was also fighting inner pain. He felt as if he was always the last one left behind to hold the pieces when everything fell apart. He felt alone and didn’t care about anyone but himself.
Suicide Attempts
It got to a point where Cain decided he wanted to kill himself. He tried but kept failing. He tried killing himself with sleeping pills but he woke up. He slit his wrists but didn’t bleed out.
This made him even angrier. Not only did he feel alone in a world where nothing mattered, but he was a failure even at committing suicide. What Cain didn’t know was that it was God’s grace that was keeping him alive in the midst of his turmoil.
Arrested for Shoplifting
After he wrecked his car in high school, Cain’s parents kicked him out. He went to live with a friend and continued to spiral down into drugs and drinking.
He tried to shoplift a box of frozen chicken but he got caught. He spent a month in jail as a result. That month in jail introduced him to drug suppliers and Cain would make good use of these new connections during his subsequent trips to jail.
He was in and out of jail for a variety of offenses.
Stealing From Clarence
Eventually, Cain moved into a party house with a group of guys. The house was owned by an elderly gentleman who lived next door named Clarence. The guys trashed the house and spent their time drinking, doing drugs, and partying.
They made a habit of using their elderly landlord’s landline telephone to make calls and it was during one of these telephone calls that Cain found money in a drawer in Clarence’s house. He began to steal the cash little by little.
He was eventually caught. But something happened that would begin a radical change in Cain’s life.
Finding Forgiveness
During the course of Cain’s trial he received a letter from Clarence. In the letter, the man told Cain that if there was a way to drop the charges, he would. He forgave Cain because he had already been forgiven much by God.
Although he was usually hard-hearted, Cain couldn’t help but weep as he read the touching letter.
He received a Bible in prison and was told to read the Gospel of John. When he got to John 8, Cain immediately related to the woman caught in adultery. Like her, he felt caught in his addiction, his pain, and his choices.
And yet, this woman was forgiven by Jesus. Could the same be true for him?
Cain felt the joy of knowing that God cared for him. He was not worthless or meaningless. He was cared for and loved by the Creator of all things. He committed to become a Christian.
Back to Minneapolis
Despite his commitment to follow Jesus, Cain didn’t know what that actually meant. He continued to use drugs and live his life as he always had.
He got out of prison but soon found himself on the streets without a home due to being kicked out of a halfway home when he failed a drug test.
He boarded a greyhound bus to Minneapolis thanks to the kind generosity of a stranger who paid his ticket.
When Cain arrived in Minneapolis he tried to get high and drunk. He went around to all the bars he could find, trying to trade in sobriety points for a free drink. All the bars turned him away.
Sherry
Cain remembered that a woman named Sherry who had ministered at the prison had told him about a Bible study that met on Tuesday nights at 7pm at a certain building in Minneapolis. It just so happened that Cain found himself in front of that very building on a Tuesday night, just a little past 7pm.
The building was seven stories and Cain didn’t know where the Bible study met but he searched every floor until he found it.
Cain waited until the study was over. Sherry helped him with his housing needs and connected him to people who discipled him.
Not long after, they got married.
God Takes the Addiction
Before getting married to Sherry, Cain saw something in her that he didn’t see in himself. She took her faith in Christ seriously and it changed the way she lived.
Cain was still addicted to drugs and alcohol and he knew that there was nothing he could do to get rid of his addiction. He asked God to take it from him. God answered his prayer. Any desire, need, or longing for drugs and alcohol left him. God’s overwhelming grace simply removed the addiction.
A Special Calling
As he was being discipled and serving with Sherry in their church, Cain was encouraged to pursue prison ministry. It was the last thing he wanted to do. He had had enough of the sights, sounds, and smells of prison and never wanted to go back.
But he sensed this was something that God was calling him to do. His past experiences had equipped him to minister to inmates in a way that few other people could.
The family’s finances were tight but that didn’t hold them back from following God’s will. Cain began to minister to inmates and lead worship services and Bible studies in prison.
Moving to Florida
Eventually, Cain, Sherry, and their family moved to Florida where Cain got involved with prison ministry to death-row inmates. The ministry was challenging but rewarding. There were so many men who were touched by Cain’s ministry and were a mutual encouragement to him in his walk.
But there was also darkness. During Covid, one inmate committed suicide because of the isolation that resulted when volunteers were no longer allowed into the facility.
Cain, Sherry, and their six children continue to live in Florida and walk out the call of ministry God has placed on them.
Not Worthless
Cain grew up as a drug-addicted boy who didn’t care about anyone and thought that nobody cared for him. He grew up feeling worthless and meaningless.
God’s grace touched him through the kind forgiveness of Clarence and the forgiveness that Jesus showed to the woman caught in adultery in John 8. As God’s grace opened up Cain’s heart, it changed him, slowly but surely, from the inside out.
The power of God’s grace can transform anyone. Cain is now living out the purpose God set before him and it is not worthless. It’s very worth it.
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Jace Bower is a writer with a passion for justice and biblical principles. He writes at jacebower.com.
Links to Cain’s Ministry
Make a tax-deductible donation to Cain’s ministry here. Please be sure to select "Missionary Support - Cain Kellerman (Prison Ministry)" in the Fund options.
