Volunteers delight in seeing “light bulb go off”

John and Sarah Aitken repeat the same phrase frequently when talking about their time volunteering at Lifeline Recovery Center.

“It’s so much fun,” Sarah said, “when you see the light bulb go off, and the ladies understand God’s love for them.”

A few minutes later …

“It’s so much fun,” John said, “when you see the men experience God in such an intense way.”

Although they have a common reaction to the hour they spend each week as Lifeline volunteers, they came to Lifeline from different paths.

John and Sarah Aitken, Lifeline volunteers

JOHN AITKEN

John, senior pastor of Faith Center, once was in the throes of addiction himself – a fact he proclaims unabashedly to his church and to the men at Lifeline.

“I’ve not always been a pastor,” he tells the Lifeline clients, “and you won’t always be an addict.”

As teacher of the first-phase class, “Gifts of the Father,” John teaches the philosophy that “God is the father, we’re the sons – and, therefore, brothers – and the church is our family.”

He also incorporates the DISC (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Compliance) assessment tool to help individuals understand the four basic personality patterns that drive behavior. “It helps them understand the (addiction) triggers.”

John wants the clients to understand that their recovery is just a first step. “We give them a vision,” he said, “of what their future can be like. Using a football analogy, sobriety is just the first down – it’s not a touchdown. They must have a greater purpose. We show them, for example, they can run a business, not just work for one.”

John has volunteered at Lifeline more than 12 years, since realizing how some of his church members needed Lifeline.

“We had some members struggling with addiction and looked for a place to send them,” he said. “We discovered Lifeline provided real help for them, so we thought we needed to support them.”

SARAH AITKEN

Sarah, pastor at Faith Center, had long supported John’s work at Lifeline and their church’s support of the organization. “I always had a heart for it, but I didn’t feel called to go there myself (as a volunteer) until about two years ago,” she said.

Then she heard a testimony from a Lifeline graduate and current leader during one of the organization’s annual banquets. “My heart just melted,” Sarah said. “While I personally haven’t struggled with addiction, I realized at that moment, ‘There, but for the grace of God, go I.’ I could have done the exact same thing.”

She and former Lifeline director Terrye Peeler cofacilitate a first-phase class, “Christian Living,” on the women’s campus. “It’s such a tremendous privilege to go out and encourage the ladies,” Sarah said. “They are hungry for God. They’re like a desert when the Living Water hits it.”

Each time she starts a new class of about 10 women, she thinks about the center’s high success rate – 63 percent of graduates maintain sobriety after a year. However, she realizes that means maybe four in that class may not make it through the program – at least, not this time.

“Many times, they will come back. That’s the great thing about Lifeline – they give people second chances, with boundaries, of course.”

She points to the sign hanging in her office: “When God gives you a second chance, it’s never second rate.”

She smiles with the glowing excitement of seeing success after those first or even second chances. And she repeats, “It’s just so much fun!”

Faith Center is one of 30 churches donating to Lifeline.

STRONG SUPPORT

Churches contribute regularly

Faith Center is one of about 30 churches and ministries that donate regularly to Lifeline Recovery Center, contributing about 15 percent of all total gifts.

Executive director Ashley Miller said support from the faith community is valuable in more ways than one. “It is helpful to know we can count on regular giving from our faith partners,” she said, “but we also appreciate their support through prayers and visits.”

Pastor John Aitken said Faith Center donates the first 10 percent of all church member contributions to community organizations, including Lifeline. “Some churches give a flat fee or take a special offering,” he said, “but we just take it off the top. When our giving goes up, our gifts to Lifeline go up.”

Faith Center and other churches also take food, arrange social gatherings and simply offer “practical encouragement” to Lifeline, John said.

It’s part of what he calls the church’s need to sow good seeds of faith in the community. “We couldn’t ask to reap the rewards (from Lifeline), if we didn’t sow into it. It’s all about sowing and reaping.”