Wednesday February 7th I had the opportunity to meet with Pastor Dave Calhoun of Hope Springs Community Church in Lexington, KY (http://www.hopespringschurch.com). Dave has been to the Dominican Republic at least 3 times and now his church comes down on short-term trips on a regular basis. While they were on the field they had the opportunity to get to know Eduard Gabriel and his ministry. Eduard pastors a church, oversees a vibrant Christian radio ministry (listen live by following the link under media), and is the spiritual advisor for a local government sponsored rehab facility called Hogar de Crea. Dave and Eduard struck a common chord through their mutual interests in recovery ministry. This has led to a partnership in ministry between them.
Dave for sometime now has been utilizing the recovery tools developed by Sattleback Church in Washington State. The program is called Celebrate Recovery. Its approach articulates Christ as our higher power and blends the 12 step program (developed through AA) with 8 principles drawn from the Beatitudes (find more info here: http://www.celebraterecovery.com/8principles.shtml ).
This past year Dave did a short seminar with our pastors on recovery ministry. This short time together generated much interest among the national pastors. Dave and I met on Wednesday to discuss the likelihood of a more intentional, intense training on recovery ministry this summer. I expressed to Dave that the need for such training was great. Many of the children in our feeding centers (which are located in the actual church buildings) are there in part because their parent(s) are afflicted with addiction. Drug use aside, Dominicans consume about 90% of the rum produced on the island. Alcoholism is rampant, especially in the most impoverished areas like the Hole and La Mosca. There are many communities that could benefit from such a ministry; we need only help equip the pastors and their leadership to respond to these needs.
Dave Calhoun will be with us on the field July 31st through August 7th. We will likely have an intensive seminar for 3 or 4 days to help train the pastors in using the Celebrate Recovery tools. Each start up kit is about $100. Dave already has 10 in Spanish that he intends to use in the Dominican. If you would like to fund additional kits for this training please follow the “Contact” link to the right and call or email me. I’d be glad to help you set that up. Please be in prayer for Dave Calhoun, that he will be able to make this trip and continue to influence the world for Christ through his efforts locally and globally in recovery ministry.
