Progress Reports
May/2008 Project Rescue Report
Dear brethren,
1 Peter 4 indirectly illustrates the suffering
associated with drug and alcohol addiction.
Our program members know the suffering sin
causes:
“But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a
thief, an evildoer…”
1 Peter 4:15
Suffering is the reason they abandoned their
addictions and turned to God for help:
“…for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” 1 Peter 4:1,2
There is also suffering
involved in addiction recovery:
A positive attitude is
essential to survive this suffering:
“Yet if anyone suffers as a
Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in
this matter.”
1 Peter 4:16
Commitment is necessary to survive this suffering: “Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.” 1 Peter 4:19
It is our task to toughen up the souls in
our addiction recovery program. We equip
them to withstand life’s trials and overcome their guilt.
We teach them how to live without a drug or a drink.
We strengthen them to survive the suffering!
The process we use involves prayer, the
Word of God and the church. We provoke
them to read, study, do and teach the
Bible. We present them with a good taste
of church fellowship. If they
devote themselves to this process, they will survive.
If they reject it, they will not.
Below is an update on the six men participating in our program. It also gives a report on the two men who left us prematurely and the one who graduated from our program.
We appreciate your prayers
and financial support!
You are helping us to carry out Galatians 6:1,2 and James 5:19,20!!
Please view our updated web page at www.projectrescue.org
In His service,
Ronnie Crocker, minister
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Update on program members:
Chris
has suffered much loss from abusing drugs.
Years of addiction made him weak.
For the past 239 days he has been
working hard to get strong.
He continues to grow in his knowledge of
the Word.
On Monday and Saturday evenings, he teaches a
class (on the book of James) to the other men.
Chris is also a big help to me in
directing this program.
His parents are members of the church of
Christ in Dothan, Alabama.
He will be visiting them next week.
Travis’
mother is a member of the church of Christ in Kerrville, Texas.
He has been with us for 175 days.
Like me, he did not learn the Scriptures
as a child.
Therefore, he is having a tougher time in his
struggle against sin.
We baptized him into Christ.
On July 4th Travis will move
out of our facility and get his own apartment in Waycross.
He says that he will continue with the
church.
We and his mother pray that he does.
Beau
has been in the program 149 days.
He has suffered more than the others.
We had a hard time detoxing him off of
the prescription drugs he was taking for sleep.
Beau is very talented in the
construction and house remodeling trades.
We are helping him to start his own
business.
New program members will work for him.
Beau’s dad is a deacon in the Palm Beach
Lakes church of Christ.
Beau will be going home for a few days
and will preach the Sunday evening sermon.
He will use Psalm 1 to tell the teens
how much he has suffered from not applying this passage to his life.
Wes was with us 62 days before he quit the program. He was not willing and able to handle the process we use to toughen up the men in our program. Wes was our first attempt at accepting someone who is not a member of the church of Christ. At first he received the word with all readiness of mind, but then he rejected it. We caught Wes sneaking off the property to visit a nearby home with a reputation of hosting drug and alcohol parties. Wes was unwilling to accept the consequence of losing his phone and television privileges and starting over in the program.
Randy
has been with us 45 days.
His mother is a member of the church of
Christ in Evansville, Indiana.
Randy has come a long way in his
struggle to live without alcohol.
Every morning he has to dig himself out
of a deep depression caused by the guilt from his past sins.
He presented the invitation after the
Bible study last night.
He did an excellent job and it elevated
his very low self-esteem.
Randy’s present struggle is quitting
smoking.
He is smoking less and less each week and will
smoke his last cigarette on June 23rd.
Ryan’s
parents are members of the church of Christ in Fernandina, Florida.
He is 20 years old.
Most men this young will not put up with
the toughening process we use.
Also, I do not know if Ryan has suffered
enough to abandon his addictions.
He has adapted very well in the 21 days
he has been with us.
He is working hard on his Bible studies
and he enjoys attending all the church services.
So far, so good!
Kevin
is our newest program member.
Nine days ago he drove 1600 miles from
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
His desire for help to overcome alcohol
is very strong.
He intensely feels that he has suffered enough.
He realizes
the Gospel is the solution for his
problems.
He knows he has a lot to learn and is working
hard on his Bible lessons.
David Wallace
graduated from the program on May 30th after
spending 90 days with us. He is doing
extremely well.
On Saturday David will be coming back to teach
a class on the struggles he has faced since he returned home.
David, his wife and his mother-in-law
are members of the church of Christ in Quitman, Georgia.
Jeremy, who left the program prematurely after 44 days, is still drug-free according to his grandmother who is a member of the church of Christ in Munford, Alabama.
It is exciting to see the spiritual growth of each of these men!