Congratulations
on coming to visit this page!You may just be generally browsing around, or you may have reached a point in your personal journey, where you want and desire lasting change. You want to move beyond the struggle against addiction, you want to change!
You can win the battle against addiction!
Some statistics say that half of Christian males are involved with pornography. Almost 47% of high school students have used marijuana. 79% of college students living in a fraternity or sorority house are involved in binge drinking. Meth, cocaine and increasingly, heroin use is rampant. Alcohol is ruining lives and families.
But how could this happen to people? The story below will give an insight into how fragile our apparent security can be:
John had been a successful employee in New York. He had spent the last twenty years working for a small pharmaceutical company, and had taken courses in management, personnel issues and other relevant aspects of the business he was in, trying to improve himself and be a better employee. He had been steadily promoted through the ranks and was now an assistant manager in the production department.
The business John worked for had been struggling during the last years, as a result of increased prices of raw materials. They had tried to pass these increased costs on to their buyers, with a resultant drop in sales. The company had to cut costs in order to survive, and consequently had to make some workers redundant. The decision was made to reduce the number of people in middle management. John's position was one of those selected. Suddenly John found himself out of a job.
He started looking for a new position. John sent out hundreds of resumes, had a number of job interviews, but was unsuccessful in regaining employment. As the months passed, his savings were exhausted, and he missed a number of mortgage payments. As a result, his home was repossessed. His wife moved in with her parents, and eventually divorced him. He had no alternative but to stay at New York's homeless shelters.
As summer drew to a close and the first cold breaths of winter started to be felt, John knew he had to leave New York, in order to survive physically. He hitchhiked to Reno, Nevada, attracted by the idea of gambling his occassional earnings, hoping to find a shortcut to financial stability. He started working in the casinos, washing dishes and parking cars, earning just enough to get by.
Gambling did not increase his earnings, however, instead he no longer had enough to pay the rent. A friend told him of a way in which he could make some quick money. All he had to do was to be available to sell crystal meth to drug addicts, on behalf of his friend. The friend impressed on him that he must never try the drugs himself. For a short time things seemed to look up for John, who tried to sell as much meth as possible. People started asking him for cocaine, and marijuana came along naturally. He had become a drug dealer.
All this change had repercussions in John's emotional life. He knew what he was doing was not right, he was in a continual battle with his conscience. He became depressed, feeling hopeless. There seemed to be no way out for him. A couple of times he tried to end it all, but each time he ended up in hospital, recovered and resolved to give life another go. The temptation to get high became steadily stronger, and he tried meth, just one time. The high he experienced helped him to forget his troubles for a while. The meth made him feel powerful, stronger and ambitious. He seemed to be able to work around the clock, pushing his body to the limits. Then he would crash and would sleep for days on end. The hunger for a fix would drive him on, repeating the deadly cycle, time after time.
As time went on, he started losing weight, and became thin and disheveled. His hair was dirty and lifeless, his face was gaunt, and his eyes were lit by an unnatural intensity. He was no longer able to hold a normal job, the drug culture was all he could do. It was just a matter of time before it would all end.
He thought about life before all this started, when he had a nice suburban home, a wife and kids he adored. It all seemed so far away. What was the use of going on?
It is because of people like John, that Healing Shepherd Ministries and Steps to Freedom were born.
This website is dedicated to presenting a program for recovering from addiction. Addiction may be focussed on a substance or a behavior, but ultimately it is the result of wrong thinking. The focus of the Bible is to save us from our sinful ways and thoughts. It is our hope that this Christian discipleship program will give you the tools to change your thinking, overcome your addiction, and live the fulfilling life that God has always intended for you.
The program will require commitment. It is not easy to face yourself squarely and tell yourself: "I am an addict. I need help. I commit myself with God's help to completing this 9-month program, step by step".
But your recovery and restoration is worth it. Welcome to the journey!
