Good News - February 2020

COVER STORY 25 FEBRUARY 2020 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition Calvary House Restores Men Struggling With Addiction (Continued from pg. 24) going to wake up at 5 a.m. It’s a discipline we’re helping them to start their day with the Lord. When you go to work, you’re going to be respectful. You’re going to show up on time. You’re going to respect you roommates…There’s also something to be said on a scientific level that over time if you continue to do the same things with repetition, it will actually start to reprogram your mind to different ways of thinking. So this structure over the period of a year actually does repro- gram the way you think. Then we ease them out. We have a transitional side where guys have 3 to 6 months until they find a job, and there’s still some struc- ture but less structure.” During this time, the men are being mentored and encouraged by the Calvary House staff as well as the staff they are working with during their employment at Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale. “One of the coolest things about Calvary House besides building a rela- tionship with Christ is the community you build,” said Dan. “These are the guys that play with my kids, come to my house, watch football with me. They pray with me. They know my struggles. It’s a family.” This community and accountability is an important ingredient to long term sobriety since a study from the National Institute on Drugs found that from one to five years, the success rate of sobriety goes from 36% to 86%. “So our goal is to keep guys involved with us as long as possible,” said Dan. Ed Weigand, a Calvary House staff member, has initiated an alumni pro- gram to keep men involved in the ministry and let them know about upcom- ing retreats, men’s ministry or Bible events, and family days. Ed exchanges text messages with many men who have gone through the program and has been mentoring men since he started to work in facilities at Calvary Chapel in 2006. “We’ve tried to locate as many men in the area as we can. Antony has started an alumni page on Facebook, and we had an alumni gathering in The Grill of about 50 men and a couple of their wives just recently,” said Ed. While working with men strug- gling with addiction can be challeng- ing, Dan said he feels called to the ministry. “In this kind of work you’re being lied to, you’re being manipu- lated, but we love them.” Dan said he is often reminded of 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Fa- ther of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Fa- ther of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” He shared, “Never in a million years did we think that God would use us to this capacity when we were in our addiction. When you are in that hole you feel worthless, unwanted unable, uncapable and God sees something different… God can still restore everything, still give you a family, still use you in ways that you never would have imagined.” If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction and needs help, call 954-943-8328, visit cal- varyftl.org/calvaryhouse or on Face- book at @calvaryhousefl. Faith-Based Addiction Recovery Programs Agape Treatment Center Agapetc.com Banyan Treatment Center Faith in Recovery banyantreatmentcenter.com/ faith-in-recovery Calvary House Calvaryftl.org/calvaryhouse Faith Farm Faithfarm.org JC’s Recovery House jcsrecoveryhouse.com Sonrise Mission Bible Training Program sonrisemission.center Teen Challenge Southeast Region, Davie Women’s Home Daviewomensrehab.com