GROWING IN GRACE. What Is GIG?

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1 GROWING IN GRACE What Is GIG? Growing in Grace affectionately known as GIG is a Christian recovery program, which operates at St. Andrew s Anglican Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. Based on the principles of prayer and surrender to Christ, GIG helps people find lifetime recovery [from painful dependency]... in experiencing the fullness of life promised by Jesus Christ, says co founder Don Blair. Every Wednesday evening Don and other ministers of GIG make the rounds to treatment centers and halfway houses to pick up those who do not have their own transportation to attend a dinner, worship and meeting. The evening begins with a dinner that is prepared by various groups in the church and followed by a powerful praise and worship service in the sanctuary. After singing hymns of praise and a message given by Don or others who have experienced the truth of recovery in Christ, many come forward to the altar for the laying on of hands and prayer. After the prayers, the group breaks up into men and women meetings where everyone is given the opportunity to share their pain or triumphs. Over 100 people attend these weekly meetings, and the power of Jesus Christ is evident each week. As Don says, We take seriously Jesus words even greater things than these shall you do if you but believe. Thousands of miracles of healing of those who are broken and hurting have occurred over the last seven years since Don and his wife Donna began these meetings. Hundreds have been baptized and received new life in Christ. But GIG s ministry does not stop at meeting just the spiritual needs of addicts and alcoholics. GIG has also donated clothing, food, furniture and even cars to those in need, following Jesus command to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Many who have been trapped in addictions find God s grace at GIG and then in turn minister to others who need assistance in coming into the same place of grace.

2 How It All Began Growing in Grace was not something that Donna and Don Blair decided to start. Through God s grace, it grew out of a small church group of recovering alcoholics that was meeting in the Blair s house in Little Rock in When Donna and Don were asked by St. Andrew s Church to facilitate a small group for fellowship, study and prayer, they thought that they had more to offer alcoholics, so they signed up five fellow recovering alcoholics who attended church with them, and they began to meet on Wednesday evenings. In the beginning, the group focused on the book Basic Christianity by John Stott, using it as a guide to discuss just about everything. Those in the group were hurting and needed to share things that they would not normally feel safe to share in church. They talked about their problems and sobriety and God and Christ. And although none had previously felt comfortable praying out loud, they began to pray together, at first very simply but with sincerity. This group soon took off and in no time they had eight alcoholics coming to the meetings, then twelve and then fifteen. Week after week they saw people being filled with the Holy Spirit. They were even laying hands on people in their front yard. When Don told Pastor T. J. Johnston of St. Andrews what was happening at the meetings, the pastor suggested that they move the meeting to the church where more people could fit easily. When GIG started meeting in the church, there were about 15 to 18 people who attended regularly. Soon they numbered thirty, then forty, and it continued to grow rapidly. One night Don and Donna were asked to speak at a meeting at a federal half way house for 50 or 60 former prisoners. A number of them were interested in the GIG meeting that the Blairs spoke about, so Don started picking up of them every Wednesday evening to bring them to GIG. There soon were people from other recovery programs and facilities who wanted to come to GIG. The need was so great, that a person who had found recovery through GIG donated two new vans to the program so that all those needing rides would have transportation every Wednesday. It became evident that not only did people need their souls fed, but many needed to have their bodies fed as well, so full meals began to be served before the meeting. Childcare started to be provided for the mothers with children who wanted to come to GIG. Over the years, more than 8,000 people have had their lives blessed by God through GIG. Many have been baptized and some have become active members at St. Andrew s. Because Donna and Don have made a commitment to keep showing up every Wednesday no matter what, hundreds of people continue to grow in grace. 2

3 Growing in Grace The Heart of the Matter An interview with Don Blair and Roger Radley+ Roger: The first thing which becomes crystal clear in the process of any time spent with Don & Donna Blair is their total commitment to being present to the Lord, to each other, and to the people to whom and with whom they serve. Evidenced by their willingness to answer phone calls any time of day or night, they are accessible. They both practice a prayerful presence. While the interview from which this article came may have been interrupted by numerous phone calls, and occurred over several days, I never felt put off. Rather I was engaged as an active listener able to be part of the ministry. After careful attention to each call, each act of service, Don would return to our dialogue in a new and invigorated way. Tell me, Don, what is the who, what, where, and how of Growing in Grace? Don: The goal [of GIG is to help those who are trapped in addictions to find] long term, life time recovery through Jesus Christ. Many of our people come from treatment centers, and other facilities, or out of the rooms of AA, etc. What we do with this simple program is to help them find meaning in those facilities, those meetings. Donna and I had a long time in AA and for us, it was not enough. Roger: But don t you see the 12 Steps as critical to one s recovery? Don: I ve heard the 12 Steps referred as a bible for dummies and for me, in a way, they are. Early in my walk in recovery I couldn t really dig that out of the Bible like I can now. The 12 Steps lay it out simply. My buddy Joe refers to the 12 Steps like a car manual. It s like buying a new car that comes with a maintenance manual change your oil every 5,000 miles, rotate the tires every 10,000 miles. We don t know how to do that with our lives. So the manual, the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is kind of a life manual telling you here are some simple things you need to do. But you need to do them while you are learning about the Lord. Roger: What you and I both know is that most people it seems, if they even get to the fourth and fifth step, that s about where they end. How do they see the fourth step that says made a searching and fearless inventory of ourselves? Don: I think we try to do the fourth step in the flesh. And the flesh cannot heal the flesh. And if you are not by then walking with God and know how to sit down and ask God to help you search your heart and search your mind, then you are not going to do a very good fourth step. Well, I slept with Jane. I stole my grandma s car. I stole money from my sister. Well, I lied to my uncle. I stole my grandma s ring and sold it. That s not what we re talking about. We all do the same things: lying, cheating, stealing that s what we ALL do! Every one of us has done things the same things there s just so much that you can do and alcoholics have done it all. But that s not what I want to know when I do a fifth step with somebody. I want to know what you were planning to take to your grave with you. I want to know why you are sitting up at three o clock in the morning on the side of your Continued on Page 4 3

4 4 The Heart of the Matter, Continued bed staring at the floor with five years of sobriety. I want to know what s eating on you? For that s what is really eating your life. Roger: How do you see the fourth step? Don: That s getting to the point where you call on God and say: God show me. You come, you come and walk with me through my heart and through my mind and show me what exactly I have done that has grieved you so badly and that I m in so much pain about. We ve all done it, and done it all, but it is in seeking the exact nature of our wrongs we need and find Jesus Christ. We are all addicted to something and in need of God s grace. It can be greed, pornography, self righteousness even church. It s not just that absence of alcohol that s going to fix you at all. It will get you in a place where you can start clearing the fog enough to where you can go on and walk these steps out. Walk these steps with God, with the Lord and use the 12 steps as a practical guide. They help. Roger: So what s the point? Don: We are all broken. We know that. Eventually, in various degrees, little by little, we ll come to see the exact nature is that we don t let the fullness of Christ into our life. We re not walking with the Lord is the exact nature of our problems. And that s what we looked for, what we ve searched for, whether we tried money, sex, alcohol, power, prestige, whatever and whoever, and it all boils down to I m trying to fix myself spiritually the same way I did with the spirit (of alcohol), and that fixes most of us for a long, long time. That s the spirit of alcohol, and it is an evil spirit for us. And yes, we can find comfort in that spirit real quick a lot quicker than we can work out this salvation over a few years. It takes a while to get the real comfort the real joy through Our Lord. We are dependent on the wrong spirit and we need to back up and get off and get right with the right Spirit. That happens sooner for some of us than it does others. But it s always available through His Grace. Roger: So what I hear you talking about is for me, a powerful way of living. I see that you think that it is the only way to live. Don: I have come to believe, and I come to believe daily. Roger Radley, Ph.D.+ is an Anglican (AMiA) priest who has ministered to people in recovery for many years. Roger+ and his wife Cynthia are working with Don and Donna to explore the possibilities of expanding GIG s vital ministry. rjradley@verizon.net Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 As a church member said of Don Blair: Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell." C.T. Studd Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5: 17

5 The Many Faces of GIG The Blessings to a Church Through GIG Fr. Steven Saul was called to serve as an associate pastor at St. Andrew s when GIG was in its infancy. He has wonderful memories of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which was manifested through changed lives as once broken people came to know and profess Jesus as Lord. With GIG, says Fr. Steven, the Holy Spirit lets loose because of its ministers obedience to God. As Fr. Steven helped support the GIG ministry, he learned to look at ministry in an entirely different way. GIG taught him that we need to reach out in our brokenness to those who are broken to give to love. What I ve come to believe is that GIG calls the church and all its members to a dependency on the Lord and to love and serve not just those people but the least of these that is all of us for all sin and fall short of the glory of Christ. GIG grows the church for it calls all members to recover for Christ what is rightfully His. 5 5

6 The Raising Up of GIG Ministers 6 GIG ministers have been raised by God in various ways. Dale Schultz came to GIG because he wanted to be clean and sober and now ministers to others in the program. There s no doubt in his mind that GIG saved his life. If I wouldn t have had the encounter that I ve had with God here, I would no longer be alive, he states. Over a period of 36 years, Dale had been in and out of four separate recovery programs, but none made him stay sober. At GIG, Dale finally understood that on his own, he was powerless to fight his addiction. He came to the place of absolute surrender where he lay everything down at God s feet. It s just coming to a place in your life when you understand that you have no abilities on your own. When there s nothing left inside of you that can fight any more and you re out of hope and you re out of a desire to even try any more, God will begin to work. Dale believes that GIG is different from other programs because in GIG one can find genuine love, genuine hope and people that really care. That support system is enough to help carry you through. At GIG you can find a lot of people who are willing to help walk you through this thing and love you through this thing. They understand where you ve been; they understand what it takes to make it and they re not ashamed of it. That s what s made the difference for me. Ordained minister Bobby King is another recovering alcoholic who ministers to others in a GIG program at another church in Little Rock, Life Unlimited Christian Fellowship. For Bobby, partnering with St. Andrews in the GIG outreach is an honor. Bobby s story is similar to that of other recovering alcoholics. Many years ago he was pulled from the land of the lost while floating in a sea of alcohol. He sees alcohol as putting people into a state of no communication. Yet, says Bobby, When we make Jesus Lord of our lives, we are pulled from this barren land and put at the King's table, much like King David did for Jonathan's son. There all grace abounds. When Bobby finally met Jesus and made Him Lord of his life, it awoke within his spirit a strong desire to let others know about that table and the grace that is there. He finds that GIG fulfills that need in the lives of many people. GIG also opens an avenue for the spouses and family members of the addicted to be a part of their new life of freedom, which Bobby sees as paramount to reaching the lost. In addition it allows the church to see the problem as a spiritual problem and not a moral issue. Once a new spirit is set in place, the moral life can grow. Bobby s prayer is that all churches get involved in a GIG ministry.

7 Tools & Resources THE 12 STEPS AS FOUND IN THE BOOK ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. Copyright 2001 A.A. World Services, Inc. Contact Growing In Grace, Don Blair at donalde70@aol.com St. Andrews 8300 Kanis Rd. Little Rock AR Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? " John 11:40 Suggested Tools for GIG To start a GIG, you need at least one person who works, one day at a time, in living a life of recovery in Christ who: 1. Believes that the Great Commission and the Great Commandment applies to him/her therefore is willing to find at least one other who desires the same. 2. Is committed to show up, at a set time, every week, no matter what! 3. Is willing to make the message known to others in recovery and those seeking recovery. 4. Demonstrates an enthusiasm to share this message with his/her church to enlist support for the idea of Growing in Grace. 5. Desires to know and live by the Word of God 6. Possesses and uses a copy of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. 7. Has worked or is willing to work the 12 Steps. 8. Will go to any length to reach out to others whether that be through contacting treatment centers, half way or sober living homes and regularly let them know about GIG 9. Will let people know you are open to receipt of prayer, resources, spiritual support, by being willing to listen, and be grateful. 10. Will ask for help from God and others in recovery. 7

8 What Makes GIG Different from Other Recovery Programs What makes GIG different from other recovery programs? Participants in GIG do not have to think long before answering this question. For Ivory Mitchell, GIG is the third recovery program that he has gone through. He says about GIG, It s as different as night and day because I feel so much love here and so many people are really concerned and take time to hear me and understand me. I m growing in the grace of God, the love of God, to find out who I am in Christ. Ivory was a Christian before coming to GIG, but he backslid in his faith and relapsed in his addiction. GIG enlightened him and gave him the blessed assurance that God still loves him. It restored his joy and helped him understand that God is forgiving and merciful. GIG has helped him to realize that his life is worth living because of the price Jesus Christ paid for it. It has given me the hope to know that I fell, but it has helped me to get up and to live. My faith is in Christ Jesus today. [GIG} will always be a part of my heart because this is where I came back to the reality of who I am. Another GIG participant, Samuel James, also finds GIG different from the first recovery program which he went through. He finds that although GIG is based on the 12 steps like other programs, GIG is also based on the love of Jesus and the Ten Commandments. Through GIG, one can find direction and a more spiritual fulfillment. Samuel believes that without GIG, he would not have found a spiritual life. Before coming to GIG, Samuel was a Christian in name but was not a participant as he is now. It s about helping other people get better, and it s about me making me a better person through helping others and getting help through them. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15: 57 Ivory Mitchell shares his thoughts at a GIG meeting. Samuel James talks with a fellow GIG participant. GROWING IN GRACE Copyright