Unique Drug Ministry Getting Results, Seeking Funds

Written by Bob Dill

Dec 26, 2007 at 12:00 AM

Farron Hancox and Nona Robinson “Beyond Recovery.” Addiction is the cause of many problems faced by families and businesses across the nation. Most serious crimes are committed by individuals under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. South Carolina and the “Bible Belt” are not exempt from this life shattering plague on humanity. There are many secular programs operated by dedicated people that provide treatment and recovery programs for those seeking relief from addiction. Many addicts go from one treatment program to another without ever becoming truly free. Some addicts are prescribed legal drugs to substitute for illegal substances. Wisdom In Living Life Ministry, Inc., founded in 2000 by Winn Freeman, is a unique ministry that lives up to its name. The ministry utilizes a tried, tested and proven training program  that uses biblical principles to transform addicts into well-adjusted, productive citizens for whom drug and alcohol abuse are no longer an acceptable option. Wisdom in Living Life Ministry has a success record that exceeds other programs designed for helping addicts. Working with homeless and indigent individuals over a 10-year period at the Miracle Hill Rescue Mission in Greenville, South Carolina, the program known as “Overcomers” experienced a sustained success rate of over 70 percent after one-year post-program follow up. This writer wanted to know what was different about this program that brings about such astounding results. The ministry is currently operating from an old former elementary school facility North of Travelers Rest. There is no suitable residential facility in the area. The ministry has developed a detailed plan called the Beyond Recovery Project, to build residential facilities for men, women and adolescents. The first phase is for a men’s dormitory. Jim Anthony, founder of the Cliffs Communities has donated 50 acres of land for the Beyond Recovery project. The property is located in northern Greenville County. The ministry needs approximately $500,000 to begin the first phase of the construction. The funds are needed mostly to purchase construction materials. Much of the labor and specialized work has already been promised by volunteer supporters of the ministry. The first facility will be a facility housing men and classrooms. Other construction for women and adolescents will follow.  In order to better understand the truth of their claim, The Times Examiner interviewed two former addicts who, as graduates of Wisdom in Living Life Ministry training, have been transformed and are now new creatures for which drugs, alcohol and other addictions are no longer an option. Farron Hancox grew up in a Christian family in Marietta, South Carolina, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. “When I met this guy, he was working as an electrician. He was on crystal meth” and living with a woman not his wife. “He was a mess,” said Winn Freeman, who heads the ministry. “I was raised in church, got involved with Hell’s Angels and was looking at some hard prison time totaling something like 130 years,” Farron said.   “I had tried the secular side of recovery, but they did not offer me any hope. They told me I would always be struggling with this disease that I had. I didn’t like life at all, so I tried to commit suicide. “The day I tried to kill myself, I saw that there was something beyond this life on earth. So I decided to turn my life over to the One who gave me life to begin with. “When I did that, I still had trouble, because I had a hard time and would fall back into drugs. “My uncle Charlie introduced me to Mr. Freeman and we started putting together a plan for what I should do. I submitted to Winn because I knew my thinking was totally corrupted.  I took his word and let him be my mentor because he was giving me God’s Word. “Everything sort of worked itself out. When you start putting God’s Word into action and you see there is truth in the promises,   that is encouraging. That is hope,” Farron said. It has been more than 5 years since Farron has used drugs. He is attending Bible College and working with men who come to Beyond Recovery for help. “I’m really excited about the ministry and the project that is underway. There is no telling how many other people there are out there that go through the secular side and just give up. You hear about people committing suicide day after day after day and if you look at these people there is addiction in their lives. And from my personal experience, I know what they are going through. They don’t have to give up. This program brings that out to these people that’s why I’m really excited about it.” Farron said smoking cigarettes was one of the hardest habits he had to break. Freeman placed Farron in a residential program in North Carolina to help him transition into the new man he is now. His son is back with him, he is witnessing to his son’s mother and she is back in church. He is in his second year of college, is a certified counselor and helps with counseling at his church as well as Wisdom in Living Life Ministry. Nona Robinson is being prepared to run the women’s program of the Beyond Recovery program. She is a native Greenvillian. She was born to Christian parents who sent her to Christian school and to a Christian university. She was in church every Sunday and made good grades in school. But she became rebellious. She wanted to get as far away from her parents and authority as possible. She quit the university and joined the army during Desert Storm. After leaving the service, she returned to Greenville. “I started making terrible decisions, got pregnant and had a son. I was not married. I was doing things I had been taught were against God’s Word. I started selling drugs and through all these bad decisions and bad choices, I ended up addicted to crack cocaine. “I tried a lot of other things, but the end result was crack cocaine and that is what brought me to the point of doing things that I never imagined I would do. “It reminded me of the Prodigal Son who looked up from the pig sty and he is thinking of how the servants in his dad’s house eat better than what he is sitting there contemplating eating, and I did that. I’m sitting there thinking about how this is so far away from what I knew is God’s plan for my life, and if I had been focused on Him I could have avoided this. “I’ve been to jail several times. I ended up selling my body, losing my son when he was age 7.” Nona was declared unfit to care for her son. The state took him and gave him to her parents. “I was in and out of jail for another two years. I got deeper and deeper in sin and addiction. It never occurred to me that I had an option. God had given me so many talents. He has blessed me tremendously and I was throwing it all away over drugs. “I met Winn and he stressed that drugs are not an option. Once you are in Christ, you are a new creature. If I claimed I was in Christ, I couldn’t do these things. “Winn came up with a plan and sent me to a place that supports the Bible-based program he uses. “I think this ministry is very important. People tend to think addiction only happens to street people, disadvantaged people or people from one parent families.  That is not the case. The people I used to get high with until the last couple of years were upper middle class; they were doctors, lawyers, deacons, dentists. Drug and alcohol addiction is running rampant in our churches and we are pretending it is not there. There is someone in about every family It is affecting every aspect of our lives.” Nona escaped death several times. That has made her know that God had a plan for her life. Her unit was the first to have casualties in Desert Storm. Her closest friend in the unit was killed. She was on sick call and was not in the barracks when it was hit. In Greenville she had a gun held to her head. Someone threatened to kill her. She was in a building when it got shot up. “It is a miracle that I survived,” Nona concluded. Miracle Hills Rescue Mission has a residential program for the “down and out,” but there is no Bible-based program in the area that provides the solid tried, tested and proven path out of addiction followed by Farron Hancox and Nona Robinson. There is an urgent need to bring the success of the Wisdom In Living Life Ministry and the Beyond Recovery program to the attention of those who have family and church members who need to be rescued from addiction and introduced to the only method that takes an addict from the point of desperation to become a new creature in Christ, with drug and alcohol use no longer an option. Families that have spent thousands of dollars on recovery programs only to see their loved ones return and go back on drugs, could become a blessing for this ministry and the people they serve by contributing to the cost of a residential facility. If sufficient funds are available, construction on the first residence facility will begin in February. Wisdom in Living Life Ministry   has a first class staff and board of directors. It is a non-denominational, faith-based, community resource dedicated to substance abuse prevention, training, and counseling, whose services are available to anyone.  The ministry is accredited by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). Accreditation is based on seven standards of responsible stewardship which include but are not limited to financial accountability, transparency, and ethical fundraising. For additional information, call Mark Stephan, director of administration at (864) 834-9800 or email or visit the website at www.wisdominlivinglife.org. The mailing address is P.O. Box 25296, Greenville, South Carolina 29616. For help with addiction, call (864) 271-HELP (4357).