Editor's Note: On June 26, the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, this article was written as the testimony of a staff member dedicated to gospel-centered rehabilitation ministry.
In a mountain village in Southwest China, through the power of God and unremitting efforts, a young man, leading a group of people who are unwilling to succumb to fate, has helped many drug addicts. They are practicing the inscription on the anonymous tablet in the cemetery of Westminster Abbey: Had I only changed myself first, I may have even changed the world.
In 2010, sent by a pastor of a counseling center, a Cantonese male believer W arrived in a small town in the Southwest to study in a local church. Later a ministry association was established in June 2012 and keeps operating as of today.
This association is a Christian organization specializing in helping to get rid of "addictive behaviors". The target group is people with drug, Internet, alcohol addictions, and AIDS patients with a history of substance use.
W himself has a painful 12-year history of drug addiction and detoxification. At the age of 15, out of curiosity, W took heroin for the first time. Unfortunately, in half a year, he had been unable to pull himself out of drug abuse.
W's mother had never given up on him. She often sat on the chair in the living room in order to prevent him from sneaking out of the house. Every time seeing his mother's anxious and desperate eyes, he would make up his mind to quit drugs, yet keep using them again and again. However, his mother closely looked after him, even though feeling nearly hopeless. Once W wrote a suicide note and planned to end his life. He injected ten times the usual dose of drugs into his blood vessel, waiting to die. But six or seven hours later, he woke up in a daze.
One day, when he found out that the drug addict who shared the needles with him had contracted AIDS, he felt despair and called his mother in tears. But his mother reassured him firmly that God could heal him and introduced him to the gospel-centered drug rehabilitation center administered by the pastor who always prayed for him. Thanks to the love of the believers in the center and the continuous prayers of the pastor and his mother, W finally quit drugs successfully.
When W was tested HIV negative for the second time, he determined to stay in the church without hesitation, preparing to serve God for the rest of his life. When he decided to dedicate himself to God, all of a sudden, he felt that God had been waiting for him to wake up during all these years of his being tormented and playing tug-of-war with Him.
Under God’s guidance, W was sent to open a gospel-centered drug rehabilitation institution, embarking on the path of full-time service. Now he has a Christian family with three lovely children.
W, who has overcome drug addiction for 17 years, once said, "I paid a heavy price for my frivolity and ignorance when I was young. After 12 years of drug addiction, I lost my youth and failed the love and expectations of my family. But Life can't be done all over again, for which I hope teenagers will not go down the same path as I did."
In this center, relying on the power of His gospel, they strive to bring people to Jesus Christ. With His word as a basis, participants pray, praise, read the Bible, work properly, and practice God’s word in their lives, so as to achieve holistic rehabilitation. Rooted in Christ’s love, the ministers help, manage and accompany the participants to get out of the slump based on the basic principle of "love, but not indulge; manage, but not harm".
The counseling center currently has four full-time staff workers, one seminary student, and six participants. During the ten years from June 2012 to June 2022, it has served more than 140 participants, among whom, 35 have completed their courses, sharing testimonies of relying on God and regaining a good life. And13 of them have not yet completed their studies, but insist on not taking drugs. Two participants have become full-time staff at this center. Another six were recommended to study theology after they were fully rehabilitated. Five went to serve in other gospel-centered organizations.
Note: The names of places and people in the article are all pseudonyms for privacy and safety reasons.
- Translated by Shuya Wang
编者按：6月26日是国际禁毒日。本文是对一位福音戒毒的同工的见证。
在西南的一个山村里，有着这样一个年青人，带着另外一群不愿意屈服在命运之下的人，借着上帝的大能，通过不懈的努力，帮助了很多被毒瘾辖制的人。他们在用真实的行动，实践了放在威斯敏斯特大教堂的墓园里那块无名碑上的话，改变世界要先从改变自己开始。（==当summary）
2010年，某辅导中心的一位牧师，差派广东的一位W弟兄为着西南的戒毒事工，前往西南的一个小城镇，在当地的一所教会学习与服侍，于2012年6月成立福音事工协会，并运作至今。
这个协会是一个专门帮助戒除“成瘾行为”的一个福音机构，协会主要帮助对象，是一些有毒瘾、网瘾、酒瘾以及有毒品使用历史的艾滋病患者。
W弟兄有12年的吸毒戒毒的痛苦历史。15岁的W弟兄因为好奇，吸食了第一口海洛因。半年的时间，他已经在毒品的下之中无法自拔。
W弟兄的妈妈一直没有放弃他，她常常坐在客厅的椅子上，不让W弟兄走出去，每当W弟兄看到母亲焦虑而绝望的眼神，他一次次下决心戒毒，但又一次次复吸，妈妈都近乎绝望地守着他。W弟兄曾写下遗书，准备结束自己的生命，他使用了比平时多十倍的毒品剂量，注入血管，等待死亡，但六七个小时之后，他迷迷糊糊又醒过来。
有一天，当他知道跟自己共用针头的毒友染上了艾滋病，他心生绝望，痛哭流涕地打电话给母亲，母亲却坚定地安慰他说，上帝可以医治他，并介绍他去曾经为他祷告的传道人开办的福音戒毒中心，中心弟兄姐妹的爱，传道人和妈妈持续不断的祷告，华顺终于走了出来。
当W弟兄复诊HIV阴性后，他便毫不犹豫地留在教会，预备终生服事这位拯救他的神。当他决定把自己献给神的那一刻，他突然感受到在折磨多年与神拔河的较劲中，上帝一直在等他清醒过来。
在神的带领下，W弟兄奉差开办了福音戒毒机构，走上了全职服事的道路，并且建立了基督化的家庭，有了三个可爱的孩子。
走出毒瘾17年的W弟兄曾说：“为着少年的轻狂和无知，我付上了惨痛的代价。整整12年的吸毒史，我赔上了青春，辜负了家人的爱和期待。但人生无法再重新来过，真不希望青少年跟我走同样的路。”
他们力主将人带到耶稣基督面前，靠着耶稣基督的福音大能，以神的话语为基础，每天以祷告、赞美、读经、适当的劳作以及在生活的实践中操练神的话语，从而达到全人康复的效果。服侍者以基督的爱为根基，本着“爱，但不放纵；管，但不伤害”的基本原则，帮助、管理、陪伴学员，走出低谷。
这个辅导中心现有全职同工4人，正在装备的神学生1名，学员6名。辅导中心从2012年6月-2022年6月十年期间，先后服侍学员140余名，其中35名学员学习期满，他们已经成为依靠上帝，重拾美好生活的见证；还有13名学员未期满，但依然坚持不再吸毒；有2名学员成为这个辅导中心的全职同工；还有6名学员期满后，被推荐接受神学装备；有5名学员去到其他福音机构参与服侍。
注：文中的地点和人物等名称均使用化名
见证｜走出12年吸毒戒毒痛苦阴霾 终成戒毒中心创办人
Editor's Note: On June 26, the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, this article was written as the testimony of a staff member dedicated to gospel-centered rehabilitation ministry.
In a mountain village in Southwest China, through the power of God and unremitting efforts, a young man, leading a group of people who are unwilling to succumb to fate, has helped many drug addicts. They are practicing the inscription on the anonymous tablet in the cemetery of Westminster Abbey: Had I only changed myself first, I may have even changed the world.
In 2010, sent by a pastor of a counseling center, a Cantonese male believer W arrived in a small town in the Southwest to study in a local church. Later a ministry association was established in June 2012 and keeps operating as of today.
This association is a Christian organization specializing in helping to get rid of "addictive behaviors". The target group is people with drug, Internet, alcohol addictions, and AIDS patients with a history of substance use.
W himself has a painful 12-year history of drug addiction and detoxification. At the age of 15, out of curiosity, W took heroin for the first time. Unfortunately, in half a year, he had been unable to pull himself out of drug abuse.
W's mother had never given up on him. She often sat on the chair in the living room in order to prevent him from sneaking out of the house. Every time seeing his mother's anxious and desperate eyes, he would make up his mind to quit drugs, yet keep using them again and again. However, his mother closely looked after him, even though feeling nearly hopeless. Once W wrote a suicide note and planned to end his life. He injected ten times the usual dose of drugs into his blood vessel, waiting to die. But six or seven hours later, he woke up in a daze.
One day, when he found out that the drug addict who shared the needles with him had contracted AIDS, he felt despair and called his mother in tears. But his mother reassured him firmly that God could heal him and introduced him to the gospel-centered drug rehabilitation center administered by the pastor who always prayed for him. Thanks to the love of the believers in the center and the continuous prayers of the pastor and his mother, W finally quit drugs successfully.
When W was tested HIV negative for the second time, he determined to stay in the church without hesitation, preparing to serve God for the rest of his life. When he decided to dedicate himself to God, all of a sudden, he felt that God had been waiting for him to wake up during all these years of his being tormented and playing tug-of-war with Him.
Under God’s guidance, W was sent to open a gospel-centered drug rehabilitation institution, embarking on the path of full-time service. Now he has a Christian family with three lovely children.
W, who has overcome drug addiction for 17 years, once said, "I paid a heavy price for my frivolity and ignorance when I was young. After 12 years of drug addiction, I lost my youth and failed the love and expectations of my family. But Life can't be done all over again, for which I hope teenagers will not go down the same path as I did."
In this center, relying on the power of His gospel, they strive to bring people to Jesus Christ. With His word as a basis, participants pray, praise, read the Bible, work properly, and practice God’s word in their lives, so as to achieve holistic rehabilitation. Rooted in Christ’s love, the ministers help, manage and accompany the participants to get out of the slump based on the basic principle of "love, but not indulge; manage, but not harm".
The counseling center currently has four full-time staff workers, one seminary student, and six participants. During the ten years from June 2012 to June 2022, it has served more than 140 participants, among whom, 35 have completed their courses, sharing testimonies of relying on God and regaining a good life. And13 of them have not yet completed their studies, but insist on not taking drugs. Two participants have become full-time staff at this center. Another six were recommended to study theology after they were fully rehabilitated. Five went to serve in other gospel-centered organizations.
Note: The names of places and people in the article are all pseudonyms for privacy and safety reasons.
- Translated by Shuya Wang
Testimony: Former Drug Addict Becomes Founder of Christian Drug Rehab Center
