F.O.A.

When I was eleven, my family moved to a ministry called Friends of Alcoholics, a Christian drug and alcohol rehabilitation center just outside Jackson, Mississippi. God had brought us there to be a part of this ministry, and He used my dad's experience to help them rebuild their main building, which was also the dormitories for the men who were a part of the program. We lived on the grounds, nextdoor to where the men in F.O.A.'s two-month program stayed.

Aaron's parents had already been ministering there for 13 years when we arrived. Actually, they lived on the other side of the men's' housing facility. He had lived there since he was two years old, and though I was older than that when I came, I still would say that we both grew up there. (I have pictures, but I can't get to them right now, maybe a future post?)

FOA is an amazing ministry, its focus is teaching the gospel of Christ to all who come through it's doors. Recognizing addiction as what it is, bondage to sin. Showing the way of freedom from all sin through salvation Christ and the new life one has in Him. And spending the necessary time teaching them, and living in front of them, and with them, the life of a Christian growing and maturing in his faith.

Aaron and I are so grateful for the unique experience we had growing up there, being a part of that ministry as children, then adults, and then even as fellow ministers (when we took our youth group there for a missions trip).

At F.O.A. I learned that these men are just that-men. They are dealing with a sin issue, as we are all. Their sin, addiction to drugs and alcohol, has affected their lives, their families, their future, as has mine and your sin. A difference can be seen in some of the consequences of their sin, but I think the biggest difference is not that their sin is worse than mine, but that my sin struggles are not as visible as theirs are.

Aaron and I (and our siblings, and now even our nieces) have grown up with these men; our families have befriended and cared about them. As much as we have ministered, we have been ministered to. Since I have been a part of F.O.A., it has also been my experience that everyone has loved someone that has, at one time or another, dealt with an addiction to drugs or alcohol. This is really something that affects us all, our culture, our families, our lives. The battle with drugs and alcohol is worldwide, just as the struggle with sin is.

All this to say, this weekend is Friends of Alcoholic's 50th Open House. We are going to drive down and be a part of this special time! So please pray for us on our trip, and for the time there. I will put something up here when we get back!