7 minute read
MENDING BROKEN LIVES
“We aim To liberate the broken from their bondage of sin and addiction through the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ”
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Chad Eskew and Ken Willingham where I learned about a ministry they serve with, called the Denton Freedom House in Aubrey Texas. Chad serves as the Director of Growth and Development and Ken serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Chairman Of The Board Of Directors of The Denton Freedom House. This ministry brings men and women in off the streets and teaches them the tools and biblical principles needed to help them turn their lives around.
Denton Freedom House is a 501c3 ministry founded in 2004 by Jeremy and Karen Adams and offers housing and rehabilitation to men and women struggling with drug and alcohol addictions. The Christian based ministry is based off biblical principles and was created after Jeremy’s history with drug and alcohol addiction. After years of struggling, Jeremy realized he needed to change, so he started attending AA/NA programs. It wasn’t until a year later when he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior that his life dramatically changed for the better and he finally experienced sobriety. After giving his life to Christ, Jeremy attended Moody Bible Institute with plans of moving to and starting a church in Florida, but God spoke to him and told him He had other plans for his life. God told Jeremy and Karen that He wanted them to start a ministry here, in Denton Texas, and it would consist of taking men off the streets into their home and sharing the gospel with them. Denton Freedom House began in Jeremy and Karen’s three-bedroom home and quickly outgrew the space. Around 2006, Denton Bible Church learned of Denton Freedom House’s need for a new home and allowed Jeremy, Karen, their three boys and the eleven men they were serving, to move out to a seventeen-acre property they had just outside of Denton but were not using.
In 2007, Denton Bible Church saw the impact the ministry was having on the men they were serving and decided to sell the entire property to them for ten dollars. The ministry now has a permanent home in Aubrey Texas and will be celebrating twenty years this year.
Chad became affiliated with Denton Freedom House in 2015 after being arrested and facing ten years in prison from theft and drug charges. While in jail, Chad became saved, and freed from twenty years of drug use. His charges were reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, he was released from jail and called Denton Freedom House the same day. Chad told them he needed help and had no where else to turn, they told him he was the exact person they were looking for, the lost and broken looking for a heart change, and they took him immediately in. Chad completed his six-month discipleship program in 2015 and he felt God calling him to help other men like him, so he applied to do an internship to become more involved. His internship started him out in the kitchen where he met his now wife Rachel who was volunteering there and they have been married since 2018. Rachel also serves on the Growth and Development team.
Denton Freedom House originally started as just a home for men, but they saw a need for a home for women struggling with the same addictions and added the women’s home three years ago. Both homes have the same discipleship programs and classes. They take men and women in off the streets and out of prison, house them, introduce them to the gospel, teach them biblical principles, how to manage money, life skills and give them a new foundation, all for free. Their mission statement is: To liberate the broken from their bondage of sin and addiction through the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Once set free, they strive to train and equip them to become prosperous disciples of Christ with kingdom vision purpose and direction. The ministry Vision is to see “Every Broken Life Mended”. They look for broken people who are at their rock bottom and ready for change. The program is one hundred percent volunteer based, no one is forced to go or stay. Everyone who resides there is there on their own free will, they are there because they choose to be.
The requirement for attending is very simple. All you must do to apply is go to their website dentonfreedomhouse.org and complete the online application.
Prospective residents must agree to a six-month commitment and agree to comply with the rules of each phase. If residents leave during the first six months, they cannot return until after waiting a thirty-day waiting period. The program offers three different phases with the first phase being a free six month period where the residents stay on site and work at the ministry’s coffee shop, Zera, or their food pantry. During the first phase families are invited to visit every Sunday and may attend the Denton Freedom House Church services. The residents are not employed during the first phase and the and the ministry pays for all their food, lodging, clothing, doctor appointments and many other expenses. The residents are there to focus on their healing and recovery. They are to attend classes Monday through Thursday from around 8:30 am to 2:00 pm where they are taught biblical teachings, anger management, biblical relationships, and finance. Ken described a heart-breaking moment when he was teaching a finance class about how to create a budget to the residents. A twenty-eight-year-old resident told him “I don’t even know where to start, I have never had a job before, I have always been homeless.”
In order to enter the second and third phases of the program, residents must qualify and complete one hundred and eighty days of the first phase. During the second phase, residents are allowed to get a job and during phase three, residents can move in to and rent a Denton Freedom House property off site, to prepare them to transition back into life.
The current men’s home can hold around sixty individuals, which includes staff and the current women’s home can hold no more than twelve individuals including staff. There is a very imminent need to build a new women’s home but that would require the property to have a new wastewater treatment plant built which will cost roughly around $750,000. The ministry has plans to start a capital funds campaign in the near future to help come up with the five to six million dollars needed for these very dire needs.
As with most ministries, around ninety percent of Denton Freedom House’s funding comes from private individual donors. All donations are 501c3 tax deductible and any dollar amount is appreciated. To give financially, volunteer or apply to become a resident go to dentonfreedomhouse.org.
Denton Freedom House would also like to formally invite you to join them every first Tuesday at Zera Coffee from 12:00pm to 1:00pm for their free community luncheon. Here you will hear testimonies from past and present residents and learn more about the impact this ministry is having on the community.
