Hi, thanks for taking the time to read this update! God has been good to The Refuge and there are several key updates that I am excited to pass along to you. First is that I started full time at The Refuge back in December 2018. I am so thankful for the opportunity to pour full time effort into the ministry here at The Refuge, and God is continuing to grow my passion and burden for Biblical addiction ministry. One of the main projects I am working on in the first half of this year is fundraising for my personal support as I minister at The Refuge. Currently, I have raised 45% of my needed support. I am thankful for the people and churches that God has moved to become part of the support team, and I am confident that God has already ordained every person, church, or organization who is going to partner with my ministry at The Refuge. If you would like to know more about what it could look like to join my support team please email me at benfunkhouser@gmail.com.
The second update is that there has been good things happening at our weekly Bible based support group called Gospel Centered Recovery (GCR). The Refuge partners with Redeemer Church in Winterset to host this group for people who struggle with drug and alcohol addiction, along with other life dominating sins.We have had several new people coming in the last few weeks which has been awesome! Recently, we have began a relationship with a ministry called Hope for Addiction based out of Gilbert Arizona. Hope for Addiction has 9 Bible based support groups that meet in churches in the Gilbert / Phoenix area and they have graciously shared their materials with us and helped us think through how we can better reach out to people in our local community. Hope for Addiction has developed a solid, biblical program that churches can use to reach people struggling with addiction. I am excited to see how God will continue to grow GCR as we interact with and learn from Hope for Addiction.
The third update is that last month I was able to be in Lafayette Indiana for a week to work on my counseling certification through the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors which I hope to complete in 2019. While I was in Lafayette I was able to have dinner with Mark Shaw and Michael Fargarson from The Addiction Connection and they surprised me with my certificate as a Commisioned Addictions Biblical Counselor (CABC) through The Addiction Connection. I am thankful for the training I have received through The Addiction Connection that better equips me to minister to people who are hurting. Another highlight of my time in Indiana was that I was able to sit down for dinner with the Director of a men’s residential counseling program called Restoration and one of the key volunteers in that ministry. It was a great time to learn more about their ministry and to see what could transfer to The Refuge as we continue to develop plans for the launch of our men’s residential addiction counseling program in early 2020. We are currently developing a business plan that can fund the program and also make it very affordable for men who are in need of help. We are praying that God would bring together the key components to that business plan this year so that we can be ready to launch in early 2020. I am also working to develop a discipleship plan and curriculum for the men who will come to the program. As we do those things we are praying that God will provide a facility to house the men. I say all of this to help you get an idea of the work that is going into developing the men’s program that by God’s grace will be open in early 2020.
Vision has been defined as a “clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be.” At The Refuge God has given us a vision to minister the Gospel to people struggling with addiction by 1) equipping and mobilizing local churches to do addiction ministry and 2) establishing a men’s residential addiction counseling program in Winterset. Our vision is set but we ask for your prayers as we continue to develop the plans to best execute this vision and step out in faith for the glory of God.
Ben Funkhouser |Director of The Refuge