FEATURE I Winton Star programme
A journey of
hope Jo Noble-Gresty shares how Winton Corps is walking alongside those in recovery
W
HEN you think of addiction, what comes to mind? Maybe alcohol, nicotine, recreational drugs or gambling. Add pornography, sex, prescription drugs, caffeine, gaming, social media, mobile phones, shopping, compulsive behaviours, over-eating, under-eating, self-harm, exercise and work and you can see the size of the problem affecting society. Contrary to public opinion, addiction is not a choice. It’s a chronic illness accompanied by struggle, shame, stigma and stereotyping. Biological, behavioural, environmental and psychological factors contribute to its complicated nature. Emotional pain from trauma, regret and isolation compound the problem. The result alters the structure of the brain and – whether it’s substance misuse, compulsive behaviour or secret habits – the bottom line is the destructiveness addiction brings, which has a negative impact on physical health, mental health and relationships. For every person struggling with addiction, 10 people are affected. That makes it a community problem and one that can’t be ignored. While Bournemouth is no different to many other places across the country when it comes to addiction, it does have a highly active recovery ministry shared across its churches. In the past eight years, more than 1,000 people have attended church-based recovery courses. The recovery ministry journey at the corps began in the summer of 2019, at an information session on the Recovery Course – a well-established programme based on the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous that incorporates Christian principles. There we identified that we could be part of the churches working 16
Salvationist 30 July 2022
together across the area to support those affected by addiction to help them find freedom. It was a challenge that we felt God was leading us to accept. We offered to host the Recovery Course in January 2020, and an invitation from the platform during Sunday worship in September 2019 attracted 22 people who were keen to become involved. A further eight people with lived experience of addiction joined us from other churches to create an enthusiastic team willing to share their gifts to welcome, inform, support, cater for and pray for our guests. A series of information and training sessions followed, and we were able to witness first-hand how the course worked, which was invaluable. When January 2020 came we were pleased to welcome guests to the course. These people became our friends as we learnt something of their stories. We were blessed and encouraged to hear from our group
leaders and guests the most amazing testimonies of journeys from addiction to freedom. They shared how God had brought about that transformation. But then the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March 2020 and put a stop to our in-person meetings. The isolation that came with that, and its effect on people in recovery, was immense. Their access to much-needed support groups suddenly stopped. In July 2020, we could meet outside in groups of six, and so started a weekly Recovery Coffee and Conversation
