Road to Recovery Christmas Newsletter

As 2018 comes to an end and we look forward to the start of 2019 we are full of hope and a sense of gratitude for all that we have - particularly for those who are sustaining their recovery with help from family and friends. We are excited to see how God is expanding the ministry of Celebrate Recovery.  We look forward to a blessed New Year!

 

As the new year begins we are aware of new challenges but we are also confident in knowing that we are not alone on this path of recovery.

 
Hello, my name is Shawn, I am a faithful believer in Jesus Christ recovering from addiction and fear of being judged.  I have been asked by our Ministry Leader Cheryl to take on this new opportunity as the contributor to this Road to Recovery Newsletter.  I would like to thank Jody for her servant’s heart and offer her a prayer as she moves on with her calling to be the women's Bible study leader at Calvary Chapel Rosarito.  

September 20, 2018 our CR hosted an Independence Day event for our participants of the program.  Great fun was had by all as we had our very own Mariachi singer and plenty of traditional Mexican food.

November 4^th CR hosted a fellowship event in the park for our CR leaders.  Laying down our responsibilities, spending one on one time together and sharing a meal was the goal of the day.  We had a blast and can hardly wait for the next time we come together to fellowship and have some fun.

Thank you to our Encourager coaches Roberto & Liliana for doing a great job setting up this awesome gathering.

HAPPENING TODAY ... December 1, 2018, Broken Chains Ride.  Calvary Chapel Rosarito’s Celebrate Recovery is happy to announce the start of a new CR backed program.  Broken Chains

"We are a fellowship of bikers who have found healing in Jesus Christ through the ministry of Celebrate Recovery helping others to realize that change is possible."

CR Facilitator Wes Hendrickson has taken on the position of being the POC (Point of Contact). This ride will begin in Rosarito; make various breathtaking stops along the coast before returning back to Rosarito.

Contact Wes for more details ccr.cr.bc@gmail.com if you would like to take part in this amazing adventure.
 

December CR will host our annual Christmas event complete with great traditional food, door prizes, Christmas music and much more.  More fun to be had just around the corner.

Staying in Recovery during the Holiday Season

For those in recovery, the holiday season can be excruciatingly painful months. Even though we are celebrating recovery we could be dealing with; death, separation, divorce, illness, family trauma, job loss or moving to a new location. This could result in great losses that make the holidays difficult. Celebrating recovery involves many steps and hurdles.

Plan ahead for this holiday season.  Prepare for when times may get difficult.

To Go or Not To Go…..that is the question:  But how do you decide?

Things to ask:
• What is the event really all about?
• Is it appropriate for my stage of recovery?
• What are my motives for attending?

Things to do:
• Take your Sponsor or Accountability partner with you if possible
• Bring your own beverage
• Go in with an inward attitude of pride in not drinking
• Have an exit strategy if you get too uncomfortable
• Have your own transportation or means of getting away
• Remind yourself of the actual purpose of the gathering
• Personalize your list by adding your own ideas

Being prepared for the holiday events this can bolster your sense of self-efficacy during the recovery process and help you begin the process of re-learning to trust yourself.

We wish you all a happy, safe and healthy holiday season.

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”
I Timothy 1:15

As you know, every event that we host, every training session we run, every meal that is served, costs money.  Our greatest need in the New Year is to find more monthly and one-time donors so we can continue to see lives change. Become a Financial Partner and you too can be part of changing a person’s life for eternity. Every donation is truly appreciated and those received on or before December 31st will be eligible for a 2018 tax receipt.

Thank you for your love and prayers during 2018.  May God bless you during this Christmas seasons and as we head into the New Year. 

Much love
The Recovery Team

The powerful testimony of Victoria

My name is Victoria, I am 54 years old and I am in the prison of Ensenada Baja California.  I am a believer in Jesus Christ in recovery who struggles with bad thoughts and attitudes.

Before my recovery, I had a lot of resentment because since I was a little girl I suffered physical,

verbal and sexual abuse.  I grew up not isolated and not trusting people, I felt guilty attitudes I

developed and couldn’t forgive myself.  And not to mention my relationship with God, there was none.

My lowest point was when I got involved in addictions, alcoholism, prostitution, and promiscuity.  Today I thank God for being here and for getting to know Him and I was invited to the Celebrate Recovery Program.  Today I understand because of his grace I am saved but not only save but for his grace, I am in this program where my heart is being restored.

I also thank the sisters from Agape en Accion for coming faithfully every Monday to share the lessons, they have been a great blessing.

Today I encourage the new inmates to participate in the program and I share with them my testimony.

Thank you for letting me share

*The names have been changed to protect their identities. 

A powerful testimony from one of our sisters fromthe inside

My name is Claudia and I am a believer in recovery who struggles with guilt.

My life has been full of rebellion.  Drugs and tattoos were what my friends and I liked. My attitude towards others was defensive and my relationship with God was distant and empty.

The lowest point in my life was when I arrived in prison.   It wasn’t until I came here that I realized in order to put my life back together I need the help of Jesus Christ.  Celebrate Recovery has helped me to open my heart and mind to God so that He can change me. 

 

Principle 1 touched my heart in a special way – Realize I am not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and my life is unmanageable.

It wasn’t until I recognized that I was not God and that I had zero power to change myself 

Now I can encourage other believers by sharing all the good things I have received in my life since I accepted Jesus Christ into my life.  Since I started working with the CR program I have received blessings that I never imagined before; patience, strength and the blessing of knowing other sisters in Christ who are walking with me in this recovery journey. 

 Thank you and God bless you all.

*Names have been changed to protect their identity

Time Travel …

Have you ever wanted to go back in time to re-live an event?  Well, you have that opportunity RIGHT NOW!!  We are going back in time to December 2015 as we want to share with you our graduation and Christmas event that took place in the Ensenada Prison and at our Celebrate Recovery night.  These pictures should have been posted earlier, please accept our apology for the delay. 

December was a busy time for our Recovery Ministry Team with the hustle and bustle of festive activities:

The team that entered the prison to serve at the Graduation Event

Front row-Joyce, Karla, Lorena

Second row-Bernadette, Esperanza,Sandra, Martha 

Back row-Cheryl

December 7th our Prison Ministry team hosted a Graduation Ceremony for ten of “Our Girls” on the inside of the Ensenada Prison who completed their Celebrate Recovery program.  We thank God for the many that helped make this event memorable.  

The graduates (faces have been blurred to protect their identity)

December 16th Our Prison Ministry team joined Ensenada Ministries in hosting a Christmas Celebration for all of the female inmates.  Live entertainment, a delicious meal complete with handing out personal gift bags to each of the inmates made for one fun filled fiesta.

Networking with Ensenada Ministries to serve all the women in the Ensenada Prison

The clowns at the Christmas event brought great joy to the women.

December 17th our Recovery Ministry team hosted a surprise Christmas party for all the Celebrate Recovery participants of Calvary Chapel Rosarito complete with traditional pozole, gift bags, entertainment and fine fellowship brought great joy to all involved.

Cindy & Joyce made enough cookies to serve all our CR participants.

Sandra making pozole

Our CR children sang beautiful Christmas carols

 Cindy & Apolos shared a beautiful Christmas story

What a blessing it was to be a part of three amazing events.  Thank you for walking with us and partnering with the Recovery Ministry; we need people like you on our side and we thank God for sending you our way.

Karla’s Dream

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

I saw myself entering the church building; near the entrance I saw a large amount of trash scattered all around.  I was sad and started to pick up the garbage all around.  I asked myself: “Why do people bring their trash to church and why can’t they put it in the trash cans?” While picking up the trash I saw a friend of mine. She was crouching down doing something and got up to greet me. When she came over to give me a hug.  I was astonished because I could see her heart, I don’t know why but I could and it was bleeding. She had bruises all over her chest, blood and bruises on her mouth and lips.  

I was in shock to see her in this condition and wondered if she might have been in an accident. Suddenly, a gentle voice spoke to my heart, “These people who are hurt are MY people” … the dream was so real I woke up crying.

Celebrate Recovery freedom

Friday, February 2, 201

A testimony from one of "our girls" on the inside: Lucy

Friday, January 19, 2018

Lucy's Testimony

My name is Lucy I am thankful to God for giving me a second chance. My father died when I was young and my mom did her best to meet all our needs. One day I asked my mom’s permission to date a boy and ran away with him. I got pregnant and had our first child. Within the year I got pregnant again. We struggled financially so my boyfriend left to find work in the United States. My world came crashing down on me when he got involved with another woman. I took my two children and returned to live with my mom and found a job.

At 17 years old, a single mom of two little ones I felt so much hatred for my children’s father.  I lived with my mom for five years. I had relationship after relationship and was really only interested in someone if he had money.  One day I met a guy and started dating him. I kept the relationship hidden as I was afraid people would judge me for dating this man.  He did not have any money or even a car. Within months, I became pregnant. I did not want to have his baby, but something inside me told me that I should go through with the pregnancy. So I started a new life with this guy. One day my partner got into a fight with one of my mom’s friends. As they fought my mom’s friend fell onto a glass table and died. I was not in the house when this happened. I insisted my partner leave. I was sentenced to go to prison for guilt by association and was seven months pregnant.

When my daughter was born, she was taken away from me. I fell in to a deep depression. I was sentenced to twenty years.  I tried to commit suicide but did not succeed. I gained a lot of weight due to the drugs for the depression. I walked around feeling like a zombie. By the Grace of God I was able to get off the medicine. People had tried to tell me about God throughout my life and I thought they were crazy.  Now I began seeking God.

I learned that my mom was seriously ill and I felt helpless as I was not able to be with her.  I cried out to God to have him take her home because she was suffering so much. Within four days she passed away. I felt horrible but found my strength in God. I accepted Christ into my heart and my life began to change. I fell in love with the Lord and my spiritual eyes were slowly being opened.  He started to remove all the hate and bitterness against the father of my children that I had stored deep within my heart: It took being locked away in prison for me to recognize that God has a purpose for my life.  I can look back at my life and see that God has had his hand upon me since I was a small child.

Now when I face trials I stand firm knowing God is with me and I'm not alone. Being in prison is the worst thing that could have happened but it was also the best. I have learned to recognize my mistakes and shortcomings.  Now I know that as a truedisciple I allow Jesus to change my character, to help remove my bad habits. I have found my peace and joy in serving Him. I have learned to love my neighbors, my family, my pastor, and mysisters in Christ. I know that every promise found in the Bible is for me and I am thankful to Him for helping settle everything in my life. I have discovered to pray, fast and feast on the Word of God. It is through prayer that I fight for my family members.

Thanks to my Celebrate Recovery group and chapel services I am free behind bars.

God bless you and thank you for letting me share.

Psalm 9:1

Friday, January 5, 201