The Rest Of The Way
As promised, the goal has been reset. I am going to leave the original explanation/sales pitch up for the benefit of new donors (and anyone who may have forgotten about me, I have been here for over a month after all ). That means that original goal is still mentioned. You can ignore that. The new goal is $2,000, and is only needed to fix some miscalculations. As before, I ask only that you pray about it. Thank you in advance.
According to statistics, I am the last person on Earth to whom you should want to give your money; this fact is exactly why you should.
Let me explain. I am a 37 year old recovering meth addict with almost 2 years of sobriety under my belt. This fact alone puts me in a very small minority group. Only about 5% of addicts who attempt to get clean and sober manage to stay that way for a full year, let alone two. A whopping 2% make it past the 5 year mark. Keep in mind, these figures only apply to those who seek help, such as a recovery/rehabilitation program. For those that try to do it on their own, the success rate is so low that it might as well be non-existent.
I am not claiming to be one of these unicorns. I did complete a year-long, Christian based program that will remain nameless for now (one of those “A”s stands for anonymous.) During my time there, I probably saw a hundred men come and go. Some stayed a few weeks, others, a few days. A few of them stayed for lunch while they waited for their parole officers to get back on the freeway. Only 5 of us (in my class at least) actually completed the program, and of those 5, only 2 of us are still clean and sober.
Our recovery system is broken. In every field, a solution that only works 2% percent of the time would be considered a failure. My life, one of many, hangs in the balance as such I consider finding (or creating). More importantly, I believe that God is calling me to this kind of ministry, to lead those still mired in this particular living hell back into the light, sharing the good news of God’s love and forgiveness to those who need it most. There is only one small flaw in this plan: I have no idea how to do it.
Bad joke, I know. The truth is that I think I have half of a solution. I know the drug scene. I can usually tell at a glance who is ready to come in out of the cold for good, and who is just looking for a warm bed and a couple of free meals. Short- term, I can challenge and motivate those who want a positive change in their lives, and I can even help them to achieve it, temporarily anyways.
Where I come up short is the transformation of lifestyle. It is not enough to simply give up a bad habit. To paraphrase an old A.A. saying, “if you were a drunken jerk, and all you do about it is to quit drinking, you’re still a jerk.”
It is not enough to simply subtract sin from our lives, we must also seek to replace it with God’s love and mercy. Now that sounds great and all, but what exactly does it mean? What does it even look like in our modern world of designer drugs, state sanctioned intolerance, and stockpiles of W.M.D’s? That is exactly what I want to find out.
By the grace of God I find myself with an opportunity to participate in a global outreach project with Y.W.A.M. Participating would mean living and working with devoted Christians committed to a cause far larger than themselves, while being very intentional about living a Christian lifestyle. Seeking always to draw closer to God, praying only for understanding of God’s will in our lives and the strength to carry it out. I believe that this project can and will provide me with the missing piece of the larger puzzle, allowing me to design something that currently does not exist, A recovery program that works.
Of course, at the moment all I have is theory. Testing that theory will require funding. It is going cost about $7000.00 to receive proper training and to participate in the outreach project. God willing, I will return with the tools, experience, and connections that I will need to take the next step to launch my own project.
So, here I am, a recovering meth addict, someone whom society says has almost no chance at lasting recovery, asking you to take a chance on me. Right now I need the $7,000.00 for Y.W.A.M, If that works out like I hope it will, I will probably be back here next year, asking for a whole lot more.
I can’t even promise to remain sober; the odds against me are so great that no such promise could ever be taken seriously. I can tell you this: God saved me, of this I have no doubt whatsoever. I believe that he did it for a reason, and every day for the last 22 months I have taken time to thank God for his mercy, and to ask what he would have me do next. His answer is not yet perfectly clear, but I believe that right now we are laying the foundation for that project, acting in accordance to his will for my life.
Of course, you have to be insane to take my word for it. I ask only that you pray on the matter. If the Spirit leads you to help me, I will be grateful for everything I receive. Thank you for your time and consideration, and I humbly await your decision.
Your Brother in Christ,
Ryan Dickinson
