Letter to John Baker

By Daniel

Thank you for helping us a lot by writing the Celebrate Recovery lessons.   They are inspirational and sometimes depressing.   The lessons have helped me just this week overcome a temptation and obstacle that could have gotten me in a lot of trouble.   They are depressing at times because I was taught the Bible when I was young by my grandmother and she took me to church and she was a godly woman.   I didn’t get into trouble with the law because of ignorance:  I was taught better.   But I did it anyway.   Confessing my shortcomings has brought great relief and peace to me.   I see now that control was my problem.   I wanted to control everybody and everything to suit me.   I wanted it all and I wanted it all my way.   When I couldn’t control someone, I would hurt them.   When I couldn’t control a situation, I would lie and steal my way out of it.   My addiction was me.   I knew God and loved God when I was a child but I strayed.   The lesson on Sanity really got me going back to God.   Thank you.

	Need a friend? God's always ready to listen.

Testimony from Eva Kratz, a Leader in PA:

“My Husband and I are very grateful to the Lord for opening the door for us to teach CRI to the men and women in our local prison at Norristown, PA, and starting shortly in our State Prison at Graterford, PA.  We open our 1 ¼ hour sessions with singing songs of faith which they really enjoy.  That loosens them up to share with us and then catch up with happenings in their personal lives.  We move on into reading the lesson, discussing the questions, and whatever spoke to them in the lesson;  we open and close in prayer.  We always leave for home feeling so blessed, as if we had just visited with the Lord.  In Matthew 25:36 Jesus said, “I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

The program CRI is a vital tool for discussion on issues that concern men and women relating to their concerns in life.  CRI’s outline is a good springboard to dialogue between student and teacher.  It is a wonderful program to make the inmates and us face some things in our lives that we normally do not want to address.

A few of the many blessings we are part of are:  One man was very quiet, protective and ashamed of his past.  When he finally was comfortable and could trust us, he opened up by confessing his fears and received forgiveness for his past life.  He is now a changed man and able to express himself in a positive way with hope in the Lord.

I see women sitting in our groups that were very laden down with guilt;  through CRI classes, they found forgiveness and became strong leaders in their pods.  They now are strong in Christ and are encouraging other women to let go of the hurts done against them.  Like one woman shared last week, she said the Lord is waking her up every morning at 4:00 AM to read the scripture and pray.  The verses are really opening up to her, when she reads it.  She now has a noticeable peace she did not have before.

The men and women want me to thank the person who supplied them with CRI books.  They say they now have a journal of their journey to look back on, to see where they came from and how the Lord is moving them along.

Testimony from William G.

I am grateful to participate in the 2nd Chance - CRI program.  As a young man, I have been misled and failed in society, because I could not cope with life's disappointments.  You helped me to get on track with God in my life and my family.  We all fall short of God's glory. Without Christ as our guide, we try to do it all ourselves, without seeking God's help, but that is the wrong way.  CRI lessons show that God as our priority is the right way.

Thank God there are faith-based counselors to help me deal with substance abuse, parenting issues, anger management and domestic violence.  I have tried everything else, and it is time to let go and let God.  Through this program, God reconstructed my life and marriage and restored my walk with Christ.  I thank God for the heaven-sent teachers so devoted to this recovery program.  They rely on God's Word and faith to guide the class to continue our walk with Christ.  Rom. 12:1.  'Therefore, I urge you brethern in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.  This is your spiritual acgt of worship.'  Thank you for my second chance.  God Bless.

From Michael G. in Charleston

The CRI counselors are so knowledgeable. I am really into the CRI program and I have learned so much.  My way of thinking about life is now way different than before.  I never had a complete stranger show they care so much for me and about me.  I do not want the program to end, and I would like to continue to be trained to become a counselor.  This program is so important, I can only think of where my life would be if I had found God in my life and this program years ago.

I now want to give back to help men and women find they can have recovery and sobriety, and they can find Jesus to develop a relationship with Him.  Thank you again one million times for this recovery program."

Arthur was a successful businessman, who had his own demolition company. His business was world-wide and he had many clients. After a divorce, his prior wife was able to divide and sell all of the assets, so that his company was dissolved and she obtained most of its proceeds. That stripped Arthur of income and family.

Vengence overcame Arthur and he wanted to get even with his former wife, who ruined him.   He lost everything and wanted to get even. Well, you kown where that got him. He did not get even, but landed in jail for failure to pay child support. Here was a successful  businessman who traveled the world, reduced to a jail cell without a way out, or so it seemed.

Arthur took the Celebrate Recovery Inside course in prison (Charleston County), and found recovery by taking God into his life.  He now understood the meaning of denial, powerless, insanity, hope, turning to God. He sought forgiveness of those he harmed and those who harmed him. He found recovery in his life and God in his heart. He was able to see he hurt only himself by his actions and was paying the consequences.

His change to keep God in charge of his life led to a new man. He forgave his wife and received God's forgiveness. He also received God's grace. He was given early release and started his demolition business again, from scratch.  His business grew and became world-wide again. When he had to report for probation, he flew in from a part of the world in which he had business contracts. Arthur is a changed man, but he is also a blessed man, because Celebrate Recovery Inside led to his turning to God and not to himself. He will always recommend CRI, because it helped him to find his new life.

From Kenneth G. in Charleston

I want to express my warmest feelings and thanks for allowing me to participate in the CRI program.  I ask God's blessings on all the teachers who present this powerful program that has changed my life.  Our times are stressful, but God is in control and still on the throne.  Keep on doing what you are doing, by showing such love to all of us and being God's messenger, and God will do the rest.

TESTIMONIES FROM INMATES IN OKLAHOMA:

“Although I gave my life to Christ and placed my trust in Him, I felt I needed to learn some tools to help to change my life.  Celebrate Recovery Inside is the key to becoming a better man. In this program, I learned more about myself and the real reasons I had hurts, habits, and hang-ups. I was able to admit I was powerless over my addictions. I realize that what I have been doing to try to cover up my hurts is no longer working, or I wouldn’t be here in prison.

"Just because I gave my life to Christ does not mean the roots of my problems are gone. With the 12 steps and 8 Beatitudes of Celebrate Recovery Inside and Christ as my Higher Power, I can restore my sanity and live a productive life."

"Sooner or later we have to yield to God and confess our hurts, habits, and hang-ups. Celebrate Recovery Inside gives me the chance to do just that, and also gives me the tools to fix them. It shows me to be honest with myself and others, so I can be honest with God."

"We all have problems to overcome. We are looking for a better way to live life. We all struggle with many similar issues, and our way of dealing with those issues brought us here inside. Each week when I go to my group, I think WOW, I am not alone.  I am not the only one with problems."

"You may think to admit your issues shows weakness. CRI and Christ make you stronger, giving you self-worth and integrity. The support you will find is like no other. It is the family I no longer have. They support the courage I looked for in the bottom of a bottle, the peace I longed for in a pill or herb. CRI is helping me to deal with the deep realistic issues that landed me in prison. Now I have the tools not to come back."

"Sex, drugs and alcohol are what I used to cover up my issues and they, in turn, created more issues. I am not alone in this battle for freedom. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I serve a loving, merciful God. Although I am not what I want to be and not what I should be, I am not what I used to be.  I needed help and I got it along the way. As a Christian, I am not pretending to be strong, but I am professing I am weak and need His strength daily; I am not bragging of success, but admitting failure and my need for God to clean up the mess;  I am not claiming to be perfect, but I am a work in progress by God’s love and grace."

Come and join our family and let’s Celebrate Recovery Inside together.
(Some parts were edited.)

Dee from South Carolina writes:

“I asked God a long time ago, since I got hooked on drugs, to find a way to get off of them.  I kept failing, because I knew I needed something to help me stay straight, to keep my mind on to do the right thing.  Like, living for God and doing for others as Jesus did for us.  Helping others, which is exactly what you are doing for me.

I deeply appreciate the CRI class and what it has done for me.  You are like a ray of sunshine, very much shining.  I want what you have, always smiling and with great peace, an angel in this place to help people like me, who really wants help and to do
the right thing by God and his son Jesus Christ.  The other programs do not offer what CRI offers, which is a chance to get right with God and stay in his presence.  God is a God of a 2nd chance and he wants me to do something for him.

There are so many kids out there doing something wrong and living for money and material stuff. They need help because what matters is God and everlasting life he Planned for us in Heaven.  I love this program and I need it for my future, so I can help others to know there is a God who wants us to know him and his son Jesus.”

Testimony from a woman in Colorado:

“I have been in and out of the jail system, until I was finally sentenced to 5 years in prison, commuted to 5 years supervised work release. While I was in prison, I attended Celebrate Recovery Inside and when I was released, I continued to attend Celebrate recovery at Fellowship Church in Grand Junction, CO. Although still under supervision, I still attend CR while working at 2 jobs. I am still growing in Christ and praise Him for all the blessings He has for me. Without CRI, I would not have turned to Christ as the Lord of my life and I would not have this great desire to continue to know Him better each day. I was lost, but Jesus found me and brought me back to a new and wonderful life.”

From Rose Marie, an inmate in Charleston Co. Det. Center