Frequently Asked Questions About Living Waters

Living Waters is a Christ-centered discipleship and ministry program for men and women seeking healing in areas of sexual and relational brokenness including pornography addiction, codependency, sexual addiction, homosexuality, sexual ambivalence, childhood sexual abuse, transgender issues, and difficulty in establishing and sustaining healthy relationships.  Our next program is starting soon. 

Frequently asked questions about Living Waters…

I don’t struggle with same-sex attraction. Is Living Waters still for me? Yes! Everyone in the body of Christ can benefit from Living Waters. Living Waters is for a wide variety of sexual sin and relationship struggles. We hear many testimonies from men and women who have struggled with heterosexual issues such as pornography addiction, codependency, and promiscuity; who have found freedom through the program. Others have found freedom from struggles such as the effects of abuse, food addiction and self-hatred.

Is Living Waters group therapy? Living Waters is a peer ministry, discipleship program and not professional therapy. Our leaders have all overcome their own battles with sexual and relational brokenness and are free to share their journeys with the participants in a way that professional therapists do not. This helps us walk towards Jesus together in a way that personalizes our recovery and brings deep freedom.

What is the difference between Living Waters and Celebrate Recovery? Celebrate Recovery is a wonderful 12-step program that has helped many men and women begin their recovery journey. Many of our participants have told us how Living Waters has deepened the healing they have received in Celebrate Recovery. Living Waters small groups are interactive and the teachings go much deeper on the root issues of our sexual and relationship struggles through Biblical, in-depth studies of issues like the mother and father wound, the effects of abuse, the cross and confession, forgiveness, and an examination of God’s design for our genders. It helps us better understand who we are in Christ and live according to our God given calling in our local church and the greater body of Christ.

Why is Living Waters 24 weeks long? Living Waters is established as a safe place with enough time set aside to work on some very difficult, and sometimes painful, life issues. We know from our own experience that this time commitment is a necessary blessing that helps to bring many victories.

Why does Living Waters have a $495 tuition rate? Living Waters cost less than $21 per week. This is considerably less than counseling and therapy co-pays, and substantially less than many of us have spent on our addictions. We have found that people who make a financial investment in their recovery are far more committed to their recovery when things get tough. The tuition also helps filter out people who aren’t serious about their recovery or who have dishonorable intentions. Living Waters graduates will tell you that the benefits have far outweighed the costs.

Will I be completely “fixed” at the end of the 24 weeks? Recovery and transformation into the fullness of Christ is a life-long journey. No program of any length can bring the complete restoration that Jesus Christ desires to give. Our primary goal for each participant is that they gain a deeper understanding of who they are in Christ. This leads to deeper healing of the root issues of their struggle, and empowers them to live a holy life. Participants will also learn tools to help them in their recovery and deepen their connection to the Body of Christ.

How long has Reconciliation Ministries been offering Living Waters? Reconciliation Ministries has been partnering with faith communities to help men, women, and adolescents overcome sexual and relational brokenness since 1984. We have been offering the Living Waters program since 1995.

If you or someone you love is struggling with sexual or relational difficulties, there is hope and healing through the power of Jesus Christ.  Call us and ask about attending the next Living Waters program. (586) 739-5114

© Reconciliation Ministries 2016.  This article may be reproduced and distributed as long as credit is given and no fee is charged.

God Knows Where You Are... And He Cares

This testimony was written by a member of our Living Waters Ministry team.  She has experienced the depths of despair and the great love of our Heavenly Father who reaches into our deepest pits and draws us to Himself. Her life is a wonderful testimony of the grace, restoration, and power of Jesus Christ. This article shares how the love and compassion of the Body of Christ helped her find the mercy of Jesus.

My husband always says that things seem really dark just before they go completely black.  I think he’s right.  Good thing the Good Shepherd isn’t afraid of the dark.  Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven.”

At forty-five years old I was adopted by my step-dad. That experience opened up for me a bigger share in the inheritance from my Heavenly Father.  It was several months later that I went to see Dan Hitz for counseling and was referred to the Living Waters program.  My natural father had been involved in witchcraft, adultery, and alcoholism.  My step-dad originally came into my life when I was three, bringing me to the waters of Baptism, a life of scripture study, prayer, and regular church attendance.

When I was growing up, our home was a happy place, only it didn’t keep out sexually abusive relatives who had plenty of drugs and alcohol to share.  By age fourteen, I had a drug problem and was preoccupied with sex and thoughts of suicide.

My parents’ plea for help was intercepted by the enemy, as they placed me in a drug program run by cruel con-artists.  It was actually a warehouse modeled after North Korean POW camps.  During my one and one half years of food, sleep, and oxygen deprivation; and mental and physical beatings; I lost all hope.  God did not seem to be there, or know that we were there.

After my escape, it was not difficult to find myself caught in the snare of drug, human, and sex traffickers.  These professional predators offer help and friendship to gain trust.  I even gave them my real name and my parents’ contact information, in case something bad ever happened to me.  With this information, they secured ownership, by threatening to kill my whole family if I should try to leave.  I was told that    I was born for one thing; to please men, and that I would never return to my family, get married, or have children

Upon entering a drop house for the first time, I saw something that horrified me.  Drop houses are terrible places where the traffickers imprison their victims. We delivered a father and two small children.  A large door was unlocked and slid open to reveal many men, women, and children crammed into this room.  The heat and the smell that poured out felt like death.  Armed gun men pushed the three in and locked the door.  Panicked, I asked my owner what was going on.  He explained to me that some people are disposable, “…even God does not know that they exist.”  His words confirmed my deepest fear, a lie that had burned deep into my heart in that warehouse; I was one of these people.

One day, something happened that I will never forget.  While working my corner, a minister and his wife came up to me.  They said that God loves me and they invited me to a church event.  They were run off by another street girl, but they had shown me the truth.  God DID KNOW where I was!  He sent these people of faith to my dark place to shine a bright light.  I could hardly recognize the feeling, but it was joy!  Although religious practices were forbidden, this visit emboldened me.  I never did attend their church, but for Easter I bought some proper clothes and a corsage (my dad had always gotten corsages for us girls on Easter).  I snuck out to Church.

I got “the look” as a lady pointed me out to the minister, but it didn’t matter.  I felt as if I had been invited by his Boss in Heaven, and that I belonged there.  It was the closest I had been to my family in years, even though I was 2,000 miles from home.  It only lasted a couple hours, but a bridge of hope to my Father in Heaven had been built.  I believed He would get me home one day.

Mark 2:5 says, “And when Jesus saw the faith of his friends, He said to the paralytic, ‘My son, your sins are forgiven.’”  At a one day conference, Dean Greer from Desert Stream Ministries asked, “Do you have friends like this?”  Thanks be to God, I do!  In their faith, I have found the healing power of Jesus Himself.  I have also been blessed with 31 years clean and sober, reconciliation with my family, 29 years of marriage, 14 beautiful children, and 3 wonderful grandchildren, so far.  God has been so generous and it just keeps getting better!!!  Praise be to Our Father, who causes His children to become light that leads us back to Him.

Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 NLT

If you would like more information about Reconciliation Ministries, or any of the ministries we offer, visit us on the Web at www.recmin.org, or call (586) 739-5114.  You may also e-mail us at info@recmin.org.  All correspondence will be kept strictly confidential.  Reconciliation Ministries is an affiliate ministry of Restored Hope Network, and uses many of the programs written by Desert Stream Ministries.

© Reconciliation Ministries 2016. Images used under license from www.shutterstock.com