M.A.D. Ministry Against Drugs

Thursday September 2, 2010:

Enabling (when helping does not help)
I have been meaning to write this note for sometime now. There really is a big difference between enabling and helping an addict. So often parents, sponsors believe they are really doing the right thing but in fact they are becoming a part of the problem.
There must be consequences for actions and so often the financial and emotional consequences are felt by the family and not the addict. This allows the addict or alcoholic to continue along the same behaviour knowing that no matter what happens someone will always be there to clean up the mess and be rescued from their mistakes.
A simple description is this:
Helping is doing something for someone that they are not capable of doing themselves.
Enabling is doing for someone things that they could, and should be doing themselves.

Thursday May 6, 2010:

AND THEY WILL KNOW WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY OUR LOVE !!

Its amazing to actually listen to what people pray for. We have the "please can you feed the starving Lord" please can
you help the drug addicts Lord " , "please can you help the families of drugs addicts Lord?"...

There is a song by Tree 63 and the words go something like" its not a question of what you can do for me but what can I do for you?"

So what am i saying ! well i think often Jesus response to these prayers would be " Get off your backside and do something"

In reality He has given us eternal life, He has done His bit. When He left this earth, He left the Holy Spirit within us. That enables us as fleshly humans to reflect this revelation. This enables us to be more than we ever could be. But it does not stop there ....

The church is bigger than any organization or goverment. We have the capacity to feed thousands and help millions. There are more churches in a country than clinics or hospitals...

We have the power to save the world because of what God gave us ... freely recieve .. freely give...

And He said GO GO GO GO not sit around and ask me to do everything GO!!!

Let people experience an often intagible God by spending TIME not money With YOU !! You can reflect Jesus in a very tangible sense !!!

Amen

Sunday Januaury 24, 2010:

To all the supporters of MAD (ministry against drugs)

I would like to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for your support of MAD. I thank those who helped bless us with your uplifting words of encouragment. I would like to thank those that donated towards the sound equipment. Those who gave us clothes to give the needy. Those who blessed us with financial aid to help us in our quest to really make a difference.
God truly is amazing. Mad was an idea that was laid on my heart. And it has been so overwhelming watching it all come to life. I was blessed with the absolute privlage of speaking to over 16 000 children at schools in 2009. The Mad youth day was a success and my prayer is that Mad youth day 2010 will be an even better expression of Gods love. Mad also helped numerous families with solutions to this very serious problem.
As I write this , I pray for everyone of you. I pray that Gods awesome light fills your life. I know that with each new day, opportunity is anew... That even though we struggle so often, It really is a great time to show our true devotion to God. That somehow through the struggles we can cling to Him. And our character grows stronger. I pray for more faith for myself and all of you in 2010. I pray that we can not only see to believe... but rather believe and we WILL see.. and through this we are FULL of Hope for the new year ahead.
I pray for anyone struggling with anything. That there really are seasons and reasons for those seasons. That if you find yourself in a winter season of your life now... dont give up... winter must happen... and it cannot even be prayed away.. but spring is is is around the corner ... and so look forward .. prepare your hearts in Hope... for spring.. because it is the PROMISE of summer.
For the unbelievers... I want to tell you what my pastor once said, but i will explain it in more detail. If you had told someone 300 years ago that ... we would have a cell phone that could connect to a satelite in space and tell your exact bearings on the earth. That you could "google" earth and use a sattelite to see your home. That you would be able to speak to someone in Italy and the USA on a screen and the same time. They would not have believed you.... But it is now true after the fact... " you cannot explain how a cell phone works to a 5 month old baby, but it exists.... And so my prayer is that you give God a chance... just because it makes no sense.. and seems invisible.. does not mean that God does not exist... throw religion away!!! but give a relationsip with an unseen God , a chance ... you really have nothing to lose...
Its easy for me to sing this song, why? because I have experienced it first hand.
For 2010 ... there are already such new and exciting developments for Mad ... so watch this space..
And remember WE are here for YOU !!
So may the new year be full of love,laughter,peace,kindness,joy,understanding....
What makes you really angry ?
turn that righteous emotion into something great... use that to fuel a fire to make the world a better place. sure the taxis,the economy,the guy in the shopping centre can make you angry... but do you use that emotion to make the world better?
I am angry that I screwed up a good part of my life using drugs, I am angry that kids still willingly choose to use drugs...
And so ... i use that ANGER to fuel me... to make me MAD.. and to make MAD an organization set on making the world a better place..

God bless you all for 2010
Justin
www.themadfaith.com
ministryagainstdrugs@gmail.com
011 478 2095
076 035 5061

Saturday November 21, 2009:

I have written a book which I hope to get published. I
wrote it many years ago but I believe that it is a story
worth reading. I have decided to post the prelude on my
journal. If you are able to help me somehow get this book
edited and published, I would be so grateful. Hope you
enjoy the taste of the book to come.

Yesterday I took my grandmother shopping, something we do
quite regularly. We arrived and I opened the car doors and
took out the wheelchair. As I pushed the chair we chatted
about life and the very things that passed us by. Our
shopping experience for groceries is always the same. We
use a basket, which is placed, on her lap and complete one
lane of various items and then fill the trolley that waits
patiently for us and the end of the line. The funny thing
is that I only have two arms, so as we proceed, I need to
juggle the trolley and the wheelchair. So the trolley gets
moved up and along as we complete this task. People
watching us, smile and often I think to myself, that they
must be thinking, what a lovely grandson and how nice it is
to see this kind of thing these days. As we finish the
juggle continues. The trolley filled with groceries and the
chair filled with my gran and both need to get to the car.
But we do it and it gets done. When we arrive home, the
mission is still not complete, I need to carry the
groceries and also get the gran back into her home. And the
wheelchair back where it belongs. As the day ends my gran
gives me a kiss and thanks me from the bottom of her heart.
But that was yesterday. And today is today.

Today I am sitting in a crack house. A dealer is busy
cutting me pieces of cocaine rock which I am now smoking. I
sold my phone and pawned my car for the drugs he is now
feeding me. I am sweating and nervous, paranoid and my
thoughts are not of anything else but my next hit. The
outside world worries and I just could not care less. My
addiction is in full force and the crazy thing is that I am
not enjoying this at all. The car I pawned was not mine and
my whole life, everything I have, all that I have rebuilt
is busy being smoked away. The very essence of Justin dying
a quick slow death. The owner of the company car, my boss
has been alerted and the vehicle has been tracked and so
now they have found the vehicle parked outside the crack
house. I am now in trouble, big trouble. I gave the dealer
the car for R3000 worth of crack but he only cut me a few
pieces and now those pieces are all I have left. I stand by
the window and watch as the dealer and my boss argue about
the deal that I had illegally made. A tow truck arrives and
I know how this is going to end. So I run out the back
door. I jump a barbed wire fence and cut my arm. The blood
is spitting all over my pants but I keep jumping fences and
walls just to get away. The real reason I am running is not
because I’m scared, no the reason I am running is because I
don’t want to stop using. I arrive at a housing complex and
find myself locked inside the gate. A couple of people
arrive home and ask me what I am doing. I hesitate to
respond and so they give me my solution. They ask if
someone is fighting me, seeing the blood oozing from my
arm, I agree and ask if I can just hide away for awhile.
They give me the ok and leave me alone. I find a spot
around the back by the rubbish dump and I sit on the
ground. I reach into my top pocket and take out one of the
last pieces and kill myself a little more. The only thing
on my mind is how the hell am I going to get more. I have
no more car, phone or money and I need and want more, more,
more. Every time I smoke the fear and paranoia fills my
sick mind but then fades away into a deep desperation for
more. The drugs are now finished and I don’t know what to
do. I eventually get out cutting myself again on another
razor wire fence. And boldly I walked straight back to the
crack house. My dealer is gone but his friends are there
and they are busy screaming at me. I lie and tell them that
I am going to wait until morning and then I will pay for
the drugs that I have already smoked. I beg them for more
but I am having no luck at all. I offer them my new shoes,
and they respond telling me that they will give me one
piece which will last me, ten seconds. So I willingly take
off my shoes and enjoy a ten second break. They tell me to
leave and I do. I am walking down the street and its
freezing cold. Its winter and I have no jacket and no
shoes. I walk into the busy street where all the dealers
wait patiently for the next car to arrive and place the
order. Not once have I thought of my safety or of those who
love me worrying and withering away back in my normal life.
When the dealers realize I have nothing left they treat me
like nothing and throw bottles at me as I walk away from
the insults and the laughter behind my back. I cannot go
home. It is so cold but my pride keeps me from asking
anyone for help. At this stage, I would do anything for
more but my resources are drained. I find a pavement and
curl into a little ball, shivering as the cold bites me. I
just lie there as the drugs wear off and now my head starts
spinning. I am filled with loss, regret, embarrassment and
despair. I stay there the whole night until the morning. A
homeless man asks me to come sit at a fire because he can
see me shivering. For the next few hours, I just sit at the
fire and say nothing. People are driving past on their ways
to work. Some are staring, some consciously choose not too.
Eventually I walk home. An hour long walk through busy
streets. No shoes, clothes spattered with dried blood
stains. That was today.

Monday October 12, 2009:

Hey Everyone!! I wrote this letter a long time ago. Long before this website. Long before the MAD FaceBook Page.
Long before the hundreds of families. The 10's of 1000's of School kids. Long before all of the newspapers, magazines ,
radio and now television. PLEASE DONT GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS , DONT !!!. BECAUSE SO OFTEN WE THINK WE KNOW WHAT WE NEED. WE STAND SHOUTING , SCREAMING, CRYING, PLEADING AND EVENTUALLY GIVE UP. AND WHEN THINGS DONT GO OUR WAY, HOW WE THINK THEY SHOULD GO , WE LEARN TO HATE AND DISTRUST GOD. BUT HE WAITS PATIENTLY , SMILING , POSSIBLY LAUGHING A LITTLE TOO. BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHATS AROUND THE CORNER, HE KNOWS THE NAMES OF YOUR CHILDRENS CHILDREN CHILDREN. AND HE SAYS JUST TRUST ME, LET ME LEAD YOU. BECAUSE EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED AND NEEDED IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER. THE WORLD TELLS YOU TO "SEE TO BELIEVE.. GOD TELLS US BELIEVE TO SEE"

To everyone,

People keep asking me what I am doing.. so ya I am in
partnership with a guy and we manufacturer various
industrial cleaning chemicals â€| but my focus is this.

I have decided to write this short letter to tell my
friends and family the vision and purpose that God laid on
my heart and to explain how awesome His grace and mercy is
on my life. And that He is patient, kind and endured the
cross for everyone so that we all could live free and
successful lives while on this earth.

Of all the people I was always very far from becoming a
" happy clappy"?, in fact while growing up I was
genuinely irritated by very such people. The only
difference is now through experience in my life and many
others, I know that i know that God is very real and that
miracles do still happen in this day and age.

When I was initially saved, it seemed like a good option. A
crutch someone who promised good and better things and held
no grudges. I was so lost and so I decided to try and learn
the bible to possibly find some contradictions or something
to substantiate my solid unbelief. By doing this from the
old to the new testaments, I found only answers. I began
understanding a God that really did have a plan and a God
that in His nature desired a friendship with His people.
Not some religious man made set of rules but a God who
understands and just wants to be a part of my life and for
me to be a part of His. That sure its great to believe He
exists, but also through relationship and trust to also
believe Him and to realize He also believes in me. Okay so
this all sounds super spiritual but this is now a reality
for me.

And so I began a wrestle with God, He put me back on my
feet and began to restore everything. I adored Him but for
the wrong reasons, for what He could and was doing for me.
After awhile I threw Him away like a used crutch. You see
only now I realize God saved me with someone else in mind.
There is a bigger picture and sometimes we just donâ€™t see
it.

Years ago there were a few prophetic words spoken over my
life and although they were at different venues the message
was always the same. "You will be used by God in a big
way"? ( hmmm I thought pretty vague and general not really
personal to me)"? ,"but also have a home and a place for
the lost and brokenhearted"? ," a place of refuge and
you will become a battering ram for Christ"? ( hmm now
that sounded better).

I had my ups and downs and more downs and forgot the
message until quite recently.

I was away and at a church where they had a guest speaker
who dealt in miracles, signs and wonders. He gave us his
sermon lets say and it was only as we were leaving the
church building that his wife, out of the blue called me
and there it was.. the exact same message again.

I went home bewildered and really just said to God "ok I
surrender to whatever it is you want me to do"? and I
meant what I said.

The next day my mom called me on the phone. A friend of
hers from over 40 years ago happened to reconnect with her
and through a conversation the topic of me came up. He
explained that after matric, he himself had also got into
drugs and alcohol. He eventually put himself through bible
school and then had nowhere to go. As time passed on he
pastored a few churches and his ministry grew. He now
oversees a bible college and also numerous churches
internationally.He explained that whatever the cost for me
to study , whatever it took he would sponsor my studies.
And help me in any way possible.

I returned home and told him and a few others my vision God
gave me and before I knew it, I was put into various
churches sharing my testimony and my vision began and still
is gaining huge momentum. As each day passes on, I am
somehow being put into the right places and with the right
people and I am truly overwhelmed by it all.

The vision that God placed on my heart is a big one and
this is it.

I have started a ministry called M.A.D ( ministry against
drugs). Mad will have offices that will offer counselling
for addicts, for the families and also career guidance for
teenagers. It will be a place of information offering all
literature on drug addiction. Mad will be able to place
people in various rehab centres nationally. Mad will keep a
progress report and open communication with the resident
and the sponsor. (Obviously this will take time as I need
to initially build relationships with various rehabs). A
huge part of MAD is an outreach programme that will travel
to schools and present a modern realistic approach to drug
education. Using movie, sound and of course a group of
young recovering angels sharing their stories.

In the end .. Mad will have a primary care facility, a long
term rehab centre that will be involved with community
projects. The rehab will then offer a second phase where
the residents will work in a factory in a normal career but
still within the rehab itself. After that there will be
secondary sattelite houses situated in the cities where the
residents function within a normal society but with certain
boundaries and the foundation and protection of the house.

All of these will be networked and managed around the MAD
ministry. And at any time, anyone will have access to any
part of the family of MAD and the strength and healing will
be within this bond.

As I sit here today I am busy building a website, in the
process registering MAD as a company. When MAD is a
registered non profit organization, companies will be able
to sew into the organization and possibly sponsor various
aspects of the organization and receive a tax rebate. We
are geared up and ready and will be doing our first school
in April. I have spent hours and hours preparing the
presentation which is now complete. I am studying my
pastoral studies and enjoying the journey. I have written a
book which once edited will be published in the States and
then brought here. I am planning on a second book which
will tell of the stories of some of the other people that I
have met. In the end I really want to write a book ,
explaining how God truly is the only solution to the lost
and broken. I have already had the privilage of speaking at
numerous events and am blessed my sharing my story and as
each day goes by the right doors are opening and This huge
overwhelming vision is coming to life.

My testimony is this that I was literally living on the
streets. God was patient and only once I began to be
obedient did this plan and purpose for my life begin. And
that no matter who or where you are.. God has a plan and
purpose for your life. He can make the impossible, very
possible because its about Him and not us. And that all my
bad choices, every bad decision I have made, somehow now
equips me for a purpose so much bigger than myself. My
revelation now enables me to help so many others, which is
incredible.

Thank you

" Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in
prayer " Romans 12 vs 2

Monday August 17, 2009:
Think this is great....
"Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny."
- Author Unknown

Monday August 8, 2009:
I am writing this just to give people some feedback on MAD's progress so far. We have helped and guided numerous families with counselling. We have succesfully helped many people into numerous rehab centres nationally. We have had a wonderful response from our outreach programme at the schools. And with each new day , the doors are being opened. Newspapers, magazines and even some interest now for TV and radio. Thank you to all the people that have stood by me in my quest. Thank you to my parents for their ongoing love and support. To my love Caryn , for all your encouraging and kind words. To Pastor Steve and his wife for all their ongoing assistance. To all my friends and family , it means so much to me. I give all the glory to God. Because in truth , non of this would be possible without HIM!!! Amen

Tuesday June 23, 2009: Hard Times
It seems that nearly every person I know is struggling with massive issues these days. It seems like their worlds are falling apart at the very seams. And its big stuff like divorce, retrenchment, unemployment, sequestration and the list just keeps getting longer daily. I am also wrestling with so many things and like all the rest it seems like God has somehow decided to ignore us all. Then I started thinking about God and who He is and what He stands for. You see when we pray and our prayers are not answered how we want them answered, we blame God. We blame the creator of the universe for not jumping and meeting our requests. Then a peace came over me. Firstly God does answer prayers, but in His spiritual and righteous timing. If all these people, including myself got exactly what we were praying for would it really be the answer. The answer to that is "No. You see sometimes we think we know what we need but really we don’t. We behave like children, kicking and screaming because we don’t get our way. But Our Dad just waits for us, to calm down accept the situation and then allow Him to lead us to what we really do need. It's only later that we realize all this but by that time we have often said and done things we regret. God wants to help us with our worldly worries of course but He is concerned with our spirit and character that will last forever. And sometimes we need to lose a little of the world to gain more in the spirit. It's written, it's biblical. And so I have decided to try accept the things I cannot change, courage to try and change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference" . And if my faith is strong enough then... I am filled with a peace and new hope because I cannot worry but I can trust God .Amen

'Wednesday May 6, 2009:
Recently I attended the Mighty Mens Conference 2009. This was led by Angus Buchan who has become famous for his faith and his life story which is now a best selling book and also a movie called "Faith like potatoes". On the second last day Angus collapsed and so it was a fairly shocking experience for all who attended. Click here for the testimony of a paramedic. Athough this has nothing to do with addiction or drugs, I feel it is a great testimony of God.

Monday April 20, 2009:
Where do you find yourself today? You see I know where I have been and I don’t want to go back there, so I try not focus on looking in that direction. So many times I allowed myself to be defined by where I had been and so I stayed just there. The new is unknown and the new is filled with possibility and that possibility is sometimes quite scary. My self esteem was so low that I never trusted myself and so change was a chance to make new mistakes and fall even harder, well that’s how I saw it at the time. I was more comfortable in the present and the past because it was all that I knew.
Drugs and addiction are terrible and really put you so many paces backwards. The emotional, spiritual and physical impact that this has on a life is massive as it stunts the growth. And so a person caught in this web never really moves on or forward.
When I look around today, people almost wake up and allow their yesterday to poison their today. A new day is new and has so much potential for positive change. A new day is filled with hope and can if we allow it, be the start of something completely new. I think that’s why we sleep, it gives us a chance to erase and reboot.
I hope that wherever you find yourself today that you realize you don’t need to be there tomorrow and that where you find yourself that’s where you are. But where you take yourself that’s exactly where you will get to.
And then where will you find yourself tomorrow?