Sue Ashmole, Counties Neighbourhood Chaplains Co-ordinator shares what a recent gathering showed her how Christians can help people with addictions.

Sue Ashmole

Responsible for Neighbourhood Chaplains - inspiring and equipping local churches to love their neighbours and impact society.

She runs a small holding and lives in glorious North Devon. Her life was completely changed when she was baptised on the 23 April 2017. She has a passion for telling others about Jesus. She attends a church plant and innovates ‘alpaca evangelism’ to reach the local community. She also hosts a discipleship house group. Her training skills are used in teaching animal care to students with additional learning needs.

SUE’S STORY

It's my great pleasure to be sharing about the recent training event Neighbourhood Chaplains held on Zoom in July. We have these twice a year, looking in-depth into the subject matter needed within an effective Chaplaincy team.

This time our speakers were: Andy Mugford our Evangelist Officer at Counties: Steve Cowles a Counties Evangelist whose ministry involves working as a Police Chaplain in Lancashire; and Emma Heath, founder of STAR (Steps to Active Recovery).

We heard about the vital role churches can play in a community to build bridges and help the lost, lonely, and marginalised in our society; how to create, run, and maintain momentum in a productive team; and about the many aspects of addiction - from drugs to knitting.

James, our tech guy, was kept on his toes as it was a well-attended evening, with 16 different churches representing 7 of the 9 country’s geographic regions.

Takeaway points were

      .     We are living in ever-difficult times where there is a growing need for us to reach out to our communities with Jesus' love to help as many people live an abundant life.

      .     Building a successful team is all about the groundwork before you even go out for the first time, and then ongoing commitment to the team and to spreading The Good News

      .     Addiction comes in many forms and can be devastating to individuals, families, and even whole communities. There is a wealth of training available to help us become more confident in dealing with addiction to help make us so much more effective.

Resources to look for:

Steve Cowles recommended the following books: both are easily available (I'm half way though Tactics!) Tactics by Gregory Koukl, Experiencing God by Blackaby, Henry, King

STAR can be accessed here:- https://starrecovery.org/