9 out of 10

Frank and I watched a documentary on heroine addiction the other night. {this is the film, it has lots of language, so be prepared if you decide to watch it, we streamed it from Netflix} It was difficult to watch, especially knowing it was a documentary, mostly about a real man as he struggled through his addiction. 

Although Frank leads the ministry, it is definitely what we see as our ministry.  I am a part of it just as he is.  We have men over all the time, we even had one stay with us for a week recently as he returned from a long time back on drugs.  It is as much a part of my life as it is Frank’s.  It must be a family ministry, or it wouldn’t work.  I am passionate about our ministry, passionate about the people we love and serve, passionate about the hope I have for them.

We deal with heroine addiction the most.  We have lost one man we love dearly to his addiction.  We have seen men at their worst, even been victims of their poor behavior choices {namely theft, or “boosting” as they call it} during their bad spells.  We have seen the sickness that happens during detox, we have seen them up and down, in bad and good.  We have seen to many relapses to count, and often face frustration when someone has been clean for months, even years, only to fall so fast back into a life of sin.

The documentary stated a statistic that is difficult to swallow.

9 out of 10 heroine addicts will NEVER recover.

NEVER RECOVER.

That means 9 out of 10 will die as active heroine addicts.  We can put faces to those 10 people.  We have already seen 1 die.  We know that of the people we work with, we may only see 1 out of 10 find total freedom from addiction to heroine.

We love as if 10 out of 10 will recover.  We have hope in Christ that 10 out of 10 will recover.  We serve as if 10 out of 10 will recover.  We don’t give up hope in someone, because we know God hasn’t lost hope.  We continue to help, even after many falls, because we know God does the same for us.

9 out of 10 may fail, but for the hope that 1 will fully recover and make it, the fight is worth it.  We don’t know who the 1 may be, so we treat them all as if they are the one.