Drug Use, Prison Time Spark Recovery Ministry

Post a Comment » Written on November 30th, 2005     
Filed under: News
YELM, WA (November 30, 2005) – Through his drug use and related activities, Joseph Ottley earned the opportunity to spend seven and a half years of his life incarcerated in a California prison. During each of the more than 2,700 days he was behind bars, Ottley never thought he would be where he is today.

When he was released, he says, he discovered grace that he had never earned, and his life turned around. So did the life of his wife, Carmin, also a recovering drug addict. Together, the two started Truth and Motivation – a Christ-centered recovery ministry – at Redeemer Covenant Church in Sacramento, California.

But God then called them to Yelm, where the two now have worked with Crossroads Covenant Church to open a transitional housing unit for those who the Ottleys hope will experience the same grace they received – and recovery from their addiction.

During the last month, the church opened the four-bedroom, 2000-square-foot house that will eventually have space for nine men. Already four men are living in the home. “I can’t even explain it,” says Joseph, who also is the church’s youth pastor. “We weren’t supposed to have four guys in there until March.”

The house is desperately needed because Pierce County, where it is located, is the nation’s second largest producer of methamphetamines in the country, Joseph says.

To purchase the house, the church received a $10,000 grant from Churches Planting Ministries of the Evangelical Covenant Church. Half of the money comes from the North Pacific Conference and the other half from the denomination.

Joseph says obtaining the house was a miracle. The house sits on land adjoining property that the church already has purchased for its new building. Adjacent to the home on the three-acre property is a shop that will be converted into meeting space, where recovering individuals will take classes in conflict resolution, the Bible, budgeting and where they will attend meetings offered by recovery groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

Men who stay at the house pay $450 a month and their meals are provided. A house manager, who also is in recovery, does a lot of the cooking and helps with the cleaning, Joseph says.

Word of mouth about the house already has spread through Yelm, but the church also is using direct marketing to reach treatment centers and other churches. Joseph says he hopes the church will be able to add room for women residents in 2007.

Although Joseph is technically the director, he gives much credit for the house to Carmin. “She is my motivator and keeps me going.”

To learn more about this special outreach program or other ministries of the Yelm church, please call 360-400-7877 or email church staff at crossroads@ywave.com.

 

Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.

 

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