Below is a letter that Steve Curington received a few years ago that was a special delight. Letters like this are exceptionally encouraging to our staff. If hyou have a story of victory that you would like to share, you can email us at weneedu@reformu.com .
Dear Mr. Curington,
Allow me to provide you with a little background about myself. I am 32 years old, I have been married to the same wonderful man for almost 14 years, and I am a mother to 3 precious little boys. As a child, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour, and I was raised in Baptist churches. I have been exposed to the truths in God’s Word all of my life, but I never realized I was living the Christian life in my own strength.
When our family faced a series of difficult trials, the alcohol I had only experimented with in the past soon began controlling me. I became something I never thought possible, something I had always despised – an addict. I began experimenting with illegal drugs, as my behavior became more and more sinful, shameful, and dangerous.
After a near-death experience, I began to realize that sin has no plateaus. Its appetite is relentless, immeasurable, insatiable, and the road to destruction only spirals downward.
I knew I needed help (fast!), so I spent hours researching and/or applying for financial assistance at alcohol and drug treatment centers. I looked at everything from residential inpatient facilities, to regular hospitalized inpatient therapy, to intensive outpatient therapies … only to find that middle-class America (me) cannot afford any of it! Only the rich can afford the best facilities; only the poor can qualify for financial assistance. By all appearances, I had reached a dead end. Little did I know this was a blessing in disguise.
In the midst of counselors, psychiatrists, medications, and dead-end re-hab programs, my husband and I began attending RU meetings at the church we had been visiting. I must admit the first few weeks were not very productive. My heart was hard, and my faith in my redeemer was at an all-time low. On top of that, I was still drinking and running with the wrong crowd, but our family remained faithful to every church service as well as every RU meeting.
The combination of sound Biblical preaching at church, godly fellowship, weekly RU meetings, and consistent exposure to God’s Word through the Overcomer Handbook began to crack the hard shell of sin that had stifled my spiritual life for so long. Little by little, my faith was restored, and I began to experience victory I never thought possible … victory that only Jesus can give. I am so thankful I was not able to enroll in any of the world’s treatment plans. It would have been a waste of time and money, as you cannot fight an inward problem with an outward program. I needed to be completely reformed, not partially rehabilitated.
I have since completed the Overcomer Handbook and am well into the Challenger Book. I have been clean and sober for 30 days and counting (after quitting “cold turkey”), and I praise the Lord for all the exciting things He is doing in my life, not to mention the life of my husband and the lives of our children. I also thank God for a church that is willing to reach out to those that much of society would reject.
Thank you, Mr. Curington, for allowing God to use you to touch the lives of so many through the RU discipleship course. My family and I will forever be grateful. Glory to God, I am FREE!!!
