Do you feel hopeless in the wake of 2020? If you do, it's easy to understand why. Last year was one of the most taxing years in history. It was full of difficult changes that led to isolation, loneliness, and heartbreak for many. But even so, Jesus is still near.

On this week's episode, a few members of the Living Free team sit down together to reflect on the effects of 2020 and share some personal stories of hope even in the midst of some really difficult times. Hope often feels distant, perhaps especially so in the wake of last year, but if you're feeling that way now we want to encourage and remind you that Jesus is always near and hope is on the horizon.

To partner with Living Free and support their work of bringing hope, you can visit livingfree.org/monthly. With a $21 gift or more, you'll receive a free gift of a Hope on the Horizon t-shirt and journal. God bless you and keep you.

Christmas isn't a time of joy for everyone. For the broken and those struggling with addiction, it can actually just add to the issues already present. But with Christ, there is always hope and this season is full of it if we look in the right places.

We speak with two people this week who are one of the bright spots, providing hope through Christ for their community. Tommy and Marea Wilson are doing some incredible work at Living Free in Corinth, MS. After his salvation, Tommy was called to ministry to men struggling with addiction, and he and Marea's faithfulness has produced something bigger than they ever could have imagined, with thousands of people involved in their ministry every year. hey provide a safe space for those struggling with addiction in their community year round, but see huge numbers in their ministry around Christmas. We wanted to chat with them about what it was like to start something from scratch in their community, why so many struggle during this time of year, and what they're doing to help the broken this Christmas.

On this week's episode, Living Free president Dan Strickland is speaking with Dolly Thomas. Dolly is a licensed clinical psychologist and ordained minister, and has been practicing since 1998. Dolly works with Adult and Teen Challenge, a faith-based residential drug recovery program, where she helps families broken by addiction come to restoration and healing. With Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon, we wanted to talk to Dolly about some healthy ways to manage the many emotions that may present themselves during the holidays, especially for those families who may individuals struggling with an addiction and in the midst of a pandemic. We really hope that you enjoy this episode!

On this week's episode, Living Free President Dan Strickland speaks with Gerri Leach, executive director of Jail Chaplains in Fargo, ND. Jail Chaplains provides voluntary attendance Living Free groups for the incarcerated in their community, offering hope and pointing participants to Jesus. They're doing some really incredible work in their community and Gerri gives us some highlights of some of the things happening in her organization, a cool story about how she learned about Living Free, and about how Living Free groups are helping individuals re-integrate upon their release.

On this week's episode we have the privilege to speak with Jack Smart about the spiritual principles behind Living Free that set it apart from other recovery programs. Jack began his journey in recovery ministry at the age of 24 and is still going strong 40 years later! His introduction to Living Free happened during his time at Adult & Teen Challenge and he has continued to use Living Free materials both personally and for ministry purposes.

We talk about the role the gospel plays in restoring broken people, how the Word, the People of God, and the Spirit work together for transformation, and how Living Free offers participants to experience the love of the Father.

"...because the drug and alcohol issues in our country are so overwhelming, I really believed we've got to get the church involved. In the latter years of my ministry that is my biggest goal, is to get the church involved reaching out to people in need, and I think Living Free is the best tool I've ever seen in order to do that." -Jack Smart

Living Free exists because one man had a radical vision for what community and recovery from life controlling problems could look like. Dr. Jimmy Ray Lee began Living Free (then Turning Point Ministries) in 1988 with a hope to transform lives through small group curriculum and an important idea behind every group: everybody needs to understand how to deal with and overcome life-controlling problem, not just individuals who obviously need help.

On this episode we continue our conversation with Dr. Jimmy Lee and talk about why we believe Living Free is such a needed resource in our cultural climate.

The misconception that recovery ministry is only for people totally overcome with life's problems still exists today. The need for a small group ministry like Living Free is more important now than ever as our culture continues to be more connected, but individuals are more isolated. Let's face it, we all struggle with something, even those within the church. On today's episode we're taking a look at the heart behind Living Free and how Dr. Lee saw the hurt behind the Sunday smiles.