People are complex and so are the solutions required to put broken lives back together. But when you focus on only one aspect of, for example, someone’s addiction, the chance of that person relapsing increases.
Think about it. Getting sober is a wonderful achievement, but how long will it last if that person has an unstable mental state that is never addressed? How long does recovery last without a spiritual foundation? What are the chances of maintaining a steady job without your health?
The average relapse rate for addicts in recovery is 60 percent!* A big reason for that high number is that lifelong recovery can’t be achieved if the focus is on just one thing—unemployment, food instability, not having housing…even the addiction recovery itself.
That’s because real recovery is about total transformation. Real recovery doesn’t happen without healing in all three aspects of a person – mind, body, and spirit.
And that’s where Gospel Rescue Mission excels.
Melissa walked through our doors and it was clear that she needed medical attention. Covered in painful abscesses as a result of an extreme heroin addiction, she could hardly move without excruciating pain.
Our intake team called an ambulance. After a 4-day hospital stay, where doctors bombarded her with antibiotics, Melissa came back to us. Her body healed, she started the next leg of her journey to wholeness – attending our life skills and Bible classes, and chapel services.
Finding the lover of her soul has been life-transforming for Melissa. “I found Him here!” she says. “It’s been the most amazing thing ever!”
Before Gospel Rescue Mission, Melissa had never known a thing about God. The revelation changed everything.
“It’s been easy for me here to kick my habit. The high that I got from drugs doesn’t even compare to the high I get from God!”
Both body and spirit restored, Melissa is currently giving her mind a workout in our recovery program, gaining the insights and tools she needs to maintain the recovery she’s working so hard to achieve.
“If I can do it, anybody can. I used to think there was no hope or no life beyond my addiction. Wish I’d done it sooner,” she says today. “I didn’t know being clean would be so wonderful! I’ve never been as happy as I am now.”
Norm agrees wholeheartedly. When this former pastor came to Gospel Rescue Mission, he’d lost everything to an opiate addiction – his home, his family, even his faith.
“I was taking upwards of 300 pills each month. I knew the next step was death and I wasn’t ready for that. Instead, I came to Gospel Rescue Mission.”
It’s a decision he wished he’d made long ago. Depressed and going through withdrawal, Norm’s mental state needed a lift. Here, God gave him the healing he needed through something he thought he had lost long ago.
Norm had mentioned to Debi, a staff member, that he used to play guitar as a worship leader, and that the music brought him closer to God. Debi relayed that to our Donation Center staff and asked if a guitar were donated, to please hold it.
It turned out that a guitar had been donated that very day!
In addition to attending our recovery classes and peer support groups, Norm began playing and singing again. He found his spirit and his faith growing along with the music. Before long, he was leading worship in our chapel services. He even preached twice, and four people responded by giving their lives to Christ!
“Other treatment centers only focus on the chemical aspect of addiction,” Norm says. “There was nothing about spirituality or the emotional traumas that we carry with us throughout the years. GRM addresses everything: chemical, emotional, physical, and above all, spiritual.”
Today, Melissa is going back to school with the goal of helping others find the hope that transformed her life. Norm has renewed his passion for ministry and is serving others. This is the power of recovery for the whole person – mind, body, and spirit.
It’s your support that makes transformation like this possible each and every day at the Mission.
“My family says I sound like a different person,” Norm reports. “My health hasn’t been this good in years. My mind is clear; my spirit is very strong. I’ve learned to take care of myself and serve others. GRM has done everything for me.”
*https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/treatment-recovery