CHRIST-CENTRED RECOVERY FROM DRUG ABUSE

WHEN SHELDON says he's going to spend his 21st birthday with his
family, his voice sounds determined, thankful. While celebrating with
family is a given,something most guys his age take for granted,
Sheldon says this birthday is special. This time he had to earn the
chance to go home for the day.

Last year, when he turned 20, Sheldon wasn't the same person that he
is now. He was addicted to crystal meth, speed, and his 'family' back
then was a bunch of his unemployed buddies, also drug addicts, that he
shared a basement apartment with.

Sheldon says the meth made him paranoid and delusional -- not the kind
of guy that families are quick to throw a bash for. Like many drug
addicts, the wear and tear of the lifestyle kept driving him closer to
the proverbial bottom. When he finally hit his low point, he reached
out to an uncle, asking him to find him some help. Together they found
Teen Challenge B.C.'s website.

For the past seven months, Sheldon has been living drug-free at Teen
Challenge's Chilliwack facility.

The ministry refers to people undergoing recovery as their 'students';
they prefer that term to the more commonly used 'clients,' because it
more accurately represents the amount of learning involved. And
conditions are rigorous: students only receive a 24-hour home pass
once they have been clean for more than half a year.

Now that the haze of the drug lifestyle has been lifted, Sheldon says
he's enjoying the chance to get to know his parents again. "God has
restored my relationship with them," he told BCCN last month. "Now I'm
actually interested in how their lives are going, not 'can you meet me
somewhere and give me money.' I used to only call when I needed
something before."

With an estimated 30,000-plus drug addicts and alcoholics in the
greater Vancouver area, Sheldon's newfound freedom represents one
shining light on a pretty dark street. There are dozens of social
agencies and ministries, each employing their own philosophy (or
theology), trying to help addicts recover.

The complex issues surrounding detox, dependency and personal
responsibility intertwine to create a twisted maze of ideologically
driven government and nongovernment agencies charged with getting
people off of the street.

Somewhere in that labyrinth are Christian ministries which make a
relationship with Christ a necessary component of the recovery process.

This summer, 45 leaders from Teen Challenge, Wagner Hills Farm,
Harbour Light (Salvation Army), Union Gospel Mission, Hope for Freedom
Society, Samaritan's Inn, Set Free Ministries, House of the Good
Shepherd, Hope in Action and other Christian ministries met together
in an initiative that may eventually see them form an official
association that recognizes their unique niche in the recovery 'world.'

And while those who tout strictly secular methods may be at odds with
explicitly Christian-based recovery methods, they can't argue with one
fact: they are working.

Methadone madness

Wagner Hills and Teen Challenge are two Fraser Valley ministries which
run programs that are notably Christ-centred. A significant element of
their philosophy states that Christ is the only path to true freedom
and that an individual cannot be truly free if he fills that void in
his life with anything but a relationship with Jesus.

To underscore this fact, the ministries refuse to administer
methadone, a prescribed, government-sanctioned, yet highly addictive
heroine substitute, saying they don't believe true recovery can come
by substituting a legal drug for an illegal one.

This stand has been an expensive one. The provincial government has
made methadone a mandatory component of sanctioned drug treatment
programs. In order to qualify for government funds -- which would
constitute a portion of a ministry's budget -- each facility has to
become sanctioned.

"We see methadone as an addictive substance that is harmful to
people," says Helmut Boehm, head of Wagner Hills.

"The government is making a relativistic decision that methadone is
less bad than people being on heroine. We don't see administering it
as part of our mandate to bring freedom to people."

Boehm is one of a number of people who view the whole methadone method
as the government's way of managing the drug problem and the financial
fallout from it.

He points out that while methadone programs may help society in some
ways -- reducing the number of robberies and break-ins, as well as
hospital visits from drug users -- they don't help the addict.

"That person is still harmed, not free, and in my view is in bondage.
Not in a relationship with God and missing out on life," he laments.
"If I administer it, I'm blocking the very place where God is meant to
be, with methadone."

Though Christian recovery centres are promoting unity in their ranks,
they don't completely agree on how best to help addicts. Not all take
such a strong stand on methadone, for instance, and at least one
Vancouver program administers the drug as part of its treatment.
Still, that hasn't prevented the leaders from working together in the
fight to clean up Vancouver.

While he refuses to "buy a person a needle" Boehm says he'll do a lot
of other things to help someone change.

"We don't just tell someone to change. Tough love means I'll do
everything needed to help you change. I'll sit through the night with
you, be your friend, find you a place to live."

Despite the absence of methadone, there is a steady stream of addicts
entering programs at the two facilities.

At B.C. Teen Challenge, which has a waiting list, addicts even have to
quit smoking cigarettes the day they walk through the front door. And
coffee and sugar -- both foods that director Barry Berger says can be
'triggers' for addictions -- are strictly rationed.

"We would solicit the government to develop drug-free zones, not
free-drug zones," says Berger.

Work and Bible Study

Teen Challenge is an international organization with chapters in every
region of the country. There are 559 Teen Challenges in 78 countries.
It was started in 1958 by David Wilkerson of The Cross and the
Switchblade fame. Their formula of Bible study, work ethic and a solid
exit plan means that most of their grads break the cycle of addiction
for good, says Berger. Their program also requires a one year
commitment, which is far beyond the average for recovery programs.

"We teach the guys to love the Lord God almighty with all your heart,
mind and soul and to love your neighbour as yourself," says Berger,
adding that that 'love' also includes respect and love for the people
that make and enforce the laws of the land.

If you truly want to love the police officer or lawmaker, you won't
break the law and do drugs he believes. Teen Challenge students do 24
hours per week of physical labor and 24 hours per week of Bible study.

According to Berger, one hard-nosed parole officer who visited the
site this summer left saying "Good grief, this is much harder than
prison." "I think we'll be getting his referrals," laughs the director.

Teen Challenge International is in the midst of a three million dollar
(US) study they commissioned to determine the current success rate of
their program. In various earlier studies, the program has shown a
success rate well above 80 percent.

One study looked at students who had graduated the program five years
earlier, whereas government studies will often only look one year
beyond an ex-addict's graduation from a treatment centre.

Despite the numbers, Berger says the government doesn't always take
them seriously because they are Christian-based. Two years ago, B.C.
Teen Challenge invited provincial and federal government officials to
a working luncheon at the centre so they could see the facility and
talk about their treatment program. "Once they saw the cross on the
wall, we lost all credibility," he recalls.

Judging Success

When it comes to judging success, to putting hard numbers to a
program, Boehm says there are many dimensions that can't be measured.
"When we talk of success [of Christian recovery programs] it's a bit
like asking 'how successful is the church at ministering to its people?'"

He views Wagner Hills as one part of a larger Christian community,
with many lay people working and praying for those with addictions.

To take credit when a person makes a life changing decision at the
farm or to feel failure when someone leaves prematurely would be to
miss the other steps in a person's spiritual journey. He cites the
case where someone who is supposed to stay at the farm for six months
leaves after being there for only one week. Though that person may
decide to used drugs again, they may eventually find permanent help
through other influences.

In the end, he says, "God's word will not return void."