For every student in our residential program, there are at least four to six family members affected by both the addiction and the recovery process. This gives our ministries the opportunity to offer help and encouragement to the entire family system! Families truly are in crisis mode and are desperate for hope and answers to life’s challenges. This is our time to step up to offer hope in Christ for healing, reconciliation, and hope for a more fulfilling life and family relationships.

Our first response to all of this is: “We barely have the staff sufficient to minister to our student body, how we can possibly add ministry to the families?” This is really easier and less of a drain on our staff then what we would first imagine! Let me give a few ideas that should be informative and helpful!

First of all, there are volunteers that want to do something for the Kingdom of God! They may not be qualified to work in direct student care, but they can be trained to facilitate groups and be accountable to leadership. Secondly, there are staff members who could facilitate one group a week and share that responsibility with other staff members so that the full load does not fall on one or two people. There are some responsibilities that are a drain on our staff and other responsibilities that can encourage our staff and mature them in ministry; this is an opportunity for our staff to be directly involved in real ministry beyond direct care and supervision.

The first group that family members would benefit from is the Concerned Person’s Group. This is a Christ-centered small group that addresses the challenges of codependency, enabling, and helping family members to let go and let God. How many times have family members interfered with a student’s progress and sabotaged the recovery process? We follow-up with Free to Grow, this group addresses the disappointments & setbacks in life and offers hope, Christ-esteem, and a future for the family in Christ. The third, and perhaps the most crucial group that can be facilitated for family members, is Restoring Families. This group deals with overcoming abusive relationships and dealing with addictions and the destruction of families, yet concludes with reconciliation and intimacy.

The family needs a Life-plan of Recovery just like the family member in our program! Remember, everyone goes back home! If family members don’t change and adjust, the graduating student is more likely to relapse! It’s great to see our adolescent programs require family days and weekends with students, and required ministry time. Our adult programs also need to require visits with a one hour group sessions to help bring hope and healing to the entire family! What an opportunity to take this first step in non-residential ministry, and make it our first goal to require family members to attend and participate in a ministry group that addresses the relevant issues and tackles the tough questions regarding forgiveness, reconciliation, and the future!

Even for those family members that are a long distance from the center, they can work thru the material, and have a conference call, skype or one of the many options for tech conferencing. A little effort on the part of volunteers and staff can bring hope and healing to families and truly multiply the lives we effect for the Kingdom of God as well as give our students the best scenario for continued recovery and successful discipleship. Families reconciled with hope for a better life together.

Remember, our 4 R’s of non-residential ministry:

• Referral, helping addicted individuals find a Teen Challenge center for those that need our services.
• Relationship, helping those who cannot come, or are incarcerated, through ministry groups and a Life-plan of Recovery.
• Realignment, helping family members through appropriate groups and a Life-plan of Recovery,
• Re-establishment, helping ex-offenders and program graduates re-adjust to society with continued encouragement and accountability through the groups, and gives them an opportunity for on-going discipleship & ministry involvement.