A couple of weeks ago was Alpha Recovery Sunday at Lewis Center United Methodist Church. Alpha Recovery is a 12 step faith-based program centered in Bucyrus. It reaches out primarily to women who have been incarcerated because of drug addictions. Lewis Center hosts meetings that expand the program’s focus to anyone dealing with addiction. Men and women dealing with emotional or physical addictions are invited. Several members of the church serve as support people for the group.
On Alpha Recovery Sunday, various people who are going through the program give their testimony. They are always very powerful describing the slippery slope from a “normal” life into addiction. If you would like to hear the testimonies, you can watch the worship service here.
One woman talked about her interactions with a member of Lewis Center specifically. She graduated from college, had a good job in insurance, and married a man who was a drug addict. Over time she because an addict as well, partly to hold her marriage together. When she lost her job and got divorced, the addiction got worse. A member of Lewis Center offered her a job and financed several stints in rehab for her. Still, she did not kick her addiction and started embezzling money to fund her habit. Eventually she ended up in jail.
When she got out of jail and joined the Alpha Recovery program, this man offered her a job again. He let her stay in his house and made sure she continued to attend meetings. When she fell in love and decided to get married, she asked this man to officiate at her wedding. She said she learned about Christ’s love because this man continued to embody it unconditionally in her life.
One of the things the women talked about was how hurts, habits, and hang-ups keep us separated from God. This is a thought worth exploring. Hurts separate us from God when we are unable and unwilling to forgive those who have hurt us. Habits separate us from God because we slip into easy ways instead of doing the work to change. It is easy to keep doing the things we have always done, but then we get the same result we have always had. Hang-ups separate us from God by keeping us from working on ourselves. It is easy to blame others for the sin or problems in the world or in ourselves. As long as our focus is external instead of internal, we do not grow.
The Alpha Recovery program is making a powerful difference in the lives of those it touches. I am so pleased that the Lewis Center United Methodist Church supports this program. The people who help with it are reaching out to the least and lost that Jesus loves.