Never Too Late Hope For Addictions

01/21/2022

Always ... a new day is dawning. You can stay clean!

07/28/2021

05/24/2021

Wayne grew up surrounded by crime in his family and neighborhood. Cannabis, acid and speed were introduced to him at a very early age. Co***ne and he**in had him hooked at age 20. As his drug habit increased, the crimes he committed were more daring. .... But, Jesus took a hopeless, lifeless ju**ie and changed his story completely. "I was dead in my life with no hope of ever changing, and God changed it all," he says. Wayne and his wife now help lead Betel's Nottingham Center (England), sharing God's hope and love with other broken men and women. [From Escaping Addiction: Portraits of Hope and Restoration, by Showalter.] For help visit Betel UK - Birmingham ]

05/20/2021

"Whether an addiction started with a prescription or from drugs on the street, the missing ingredient for someone getting better is rarely to have another person give them a list of everything they've done wrong or what they should have done differently. The road of blame and accusation only leads to silence and shame. Recovery, and ultimately the responsibility that is needed, begins with healing." -- McMahan King, Addiction Nation: What the Opioid Crisis Reveals about Us, Herald Press, 2019, p. 52

04/22/2021

Why do we post these stories? Because everyone has a mother, father, brother, sister, friend who cares what happens. Here's Paul's story: "When I look and remember where I came from, I still find it hard to believe that person was me. It seems so far away, like a story of another person's life. That pain and anguish is just a distant memory that's been replaced by this amazing, unexplainable joy, hope, and peace. I now have vision and purpose, relationships, friendships, and great leaders who support me." [Now director of a program at Betel, Nottingham, England. More info on Betel at Betel UK - Birmingham.]

03/25/2021

A better road ahead:
Richard: “I remember waking up in a hospital, not the first or second time but the third time from trying to take my own life. I remember it as if it was yesterday, all the wires over me, and that constant beep, beep, beep. Voices everywhere, my eyes barely opening and then the doctor walking in saying, ‘Richard, you’re extremely lucky to be alive.’ But the words were to me like a slap in the face. I really thought I had an alcohol and drug addiction. I was wrong, that was just the surface. From a young age, I chased acceptance. My issue was identity. I was completely baffled and confused as to who I was.”
Richard’s identity is no longer in confusion, it is now found in Christ. He has many creative skills and talents that he had used to bring glory to himself. But God has made a way for him to use them in a way that brings God’s truth to others. His passion is for the next generation.”
Escaping Addiction: Portraits of Hope and Restoration, by Christina Showalter, 2020.

03/10/2021

Timothy McMahan King: "It is easy to make an idol of perfect recovery. Indeed, it is possible for anyone to make an idol out of a vision for any particular kind of life. The goal becomes attainment, not pursuit. When that happens, we lose the possibility of learning more about ourselves, the world, and what we are trying to attain, Pursuit of perfection can become an addiction when we just keep doing the same thing over and over and expect a different result. We set up standards we cannot possibly meet and then abandon our pursuit entirely out of frustration. ... Life is not lived in pursuit of perfection but in creating a wholeness large enough o hold the imperfection." [Addiction Nation: What the Opioid Crisis reveals about Us, Herald Press, 2019]

02/19/2021

"The technology to watch our brains at work in real time has transformed our understanding of addiction. We don't just know that the brain changes; we can see how it changes. Alcohol, opioids, caffeine, and other addictive substances when present in the body, all affect the functioning of the brain. When you drink, you get drunk. When the alcohol wears off, you sober up. But repeated use creates long-term changes in the brain that don't immediately reverse, and these changes remain even after the substance is gone from the system." [Addiction Nation, Timothy McMahan King, Herald Press, 2019]

02/02/2021

Sam tried everything to get out of the mess he was in: rehabs, counseling, even a stay at a Greek monastery. "I could have written a thesis about addiction. I studied it, I also lived it, and I knew addiction. But I couldn't have told you one thing about the solution. I had no idea I had a spiritual problem." [Escaping Addiction: Portraits of Hope and Restoration, by Christina Showalter] Betel UK - Birmingham

01/27/2021

"Stephen had come to terms with the fact that his family and children wanted nothing to do with him anymore because of the pain he had caused over the years. But God had other plans. Through the next 8 years in Betel UK - Birmingham, as he walked his journey of healing, all of those relationships were restored to better than ever before. He is thankful that the relationships with his son and other children are now healthy and full. " [Escaping Addiction: Portraits of Hope and Restoration, 2020, by Christina Showalter]

01/24/2021

"Love gives us something to say yes to. Blame is only about a NO. Overcoming addiction is never accomplished in negation. Recovery is not ultimately about the things we don't do, or the substances we don't take, or the people we stay away from. Rather, recovery comes inn the positive commitments we made that can replace the addiction. Every addiction has some sort of good at which is aimed. If we remove the addiction but don't give ourselves a new way to achieve that good, then we are bound to fail." [Addiction Nation, by Timothy McMahan King, Herald Press, 2019]

01/12/2021

Pete, Liverpool, England: "Nothing helped or changed me. I was trapped, enslaved to my addictions. Some nights I slept rolled up in a carpet in a dumpster bin. I'd try to cry but there were no tears anymore. I'd have this picture in my head of my kids asking their mom, 'Where is my dad?!'"

Today, Pete and his wife Dawn bring hope to others who are going through the same pain. Pete doesn't patronize them with platitudes. Instead he helps them carry on, waiting for God to build bridges. "God enabled me to preach His word and took me from the garbage bin to the pulpit." [Escaping Addictions: Portraits of Hope and Restoration, by Showalter]

01/08/2021

Sara: "I cried every night but I didn't have the courage to tell anybody. I didn't want to be bullied any more. I wanted these people to want me and like me, so I kept quiet." Eventually, alcohol and w**d became a way to cover up her feelings. Kicked out of school and her home, she became violent, being arrested three times a week became normal. Finding Jesus through Betel UK - Birmingham was the only path to freedom for Sara. "The peace I now have is unshakeable. No one can ever take it away. I realized that God's love for me was irrevocable, no matter what. I felt secure for the first time in my life." [Excerpted from Escaping Addictions: Portraits of Hope and Restoration, by Christina Showalter.

01/05/2021

Kirsty, UK: "In the drug life you get involved with the wrong crowd; we were all drug users up to no good. I was just one big mess. My life became controlled by men, drugs and crime." [Years later]: "Jesus met me in my lost state. Jesus showed me how to love myself and others. God has not only given me a life I never thought I would have, my dreams have come to life today all because of Jesus." [Escaping Addiction: Portraits of Hope and Restoration, Christina Showalter]

01/01/2021

Jimmy, Liverpool, England: "I never came to Betel UK - Birmingham to become a Christian. I came because I had enough of being a drug addict. I was so full of shame and I wanted my son to have a dad. That is what drove me more than anything." --[Escaping Addiction: Portraits of Hope and Restoration, Christina Showalter, 2020. Photo for illustration only.]

12/28/2020

12/24/2020

We pray for those dealing with depression, addiction and alcohol issues at this sad and supposed to be joyous holiday time. Hang in there, you are worth it!