Heather Bellamy caught up with Ian Samuel, the founder of Gilead Foundations rehab in Devon, England.

Ian and Bron Samuel, Founders of Gilead

Heather: Gilead care for and help rescue many lives from the grip of drug and alcohol addiction. Tell us a bit about what Gilead does.

Ian: Gilead offers a residential rehabilitation programme for anyone dealing with life controlling problems, the majority of people who come to us suffer from alcohol or drug addiction, we call the clients at GF "students". The programme consists of 4 phases: phase 1 is 6 weeks long which is our primary care stage, people can come and do a detox from either drugs or alcohol on this phase; phase 2 is 20 weeks long, during this phase a person will go through a relapse prevention programme which will help them find out the root of "why they do the things they don't want to do" (paraphrase of the end of Romans 7 in the Bible); phase 3 is 30 weeks long, it is a proving time when a person can show themselves and others that they can put into operation everything they have learnt from the relapse prevention programme; phase 4 is a 6 month re-entry programme where GF assists a person back into society, visiting them in their new accommodation and helping them find a career (training or work) and good support networks).

John

Heather: You're very different from other rehabs aren't you, in operating a fully working farm on which the students can work. How does this help people in getting clean? What jobs do they do?

Ian: The work or training therapy that we use at the farm is an invaluable part of the programme we offer people who come to us. We believe it is important for the students to have an active day in which they can get involved in the every - day - running of the community at GF. This provides not only training to the individuals but also a sense of purpose and self esteem which has often been missing from this person's life. There are various activities the students can get involved in such as: farm work; maintenance; mechanical workshop; catering & domestics; milk retail; gardening; administration etc.

Heather: As well as practical help, I know you also try to help people get to the root of their problems through a course called Genesis, what's that all about?

Ian: As mentioned above, the relapse prevention programme is gone through by our phase 2 students. We use the Genesis Process material which was developed by Mike Dye, a long standing drug & alcohol rehabilitation worker/manager/director who has developed and researched this programme and now teaches it worldwide to those who work in this field. The programme uncovers the root problems an addict has in his/her life and the reasons he/she turned to addiction. By learning why one becomes an addict (emotionally/physiologically/psychologically) a person can then deal with these root issues and correct the "false beliefs" they have assumed and therefore free themselves from lies and start to live in the truth. As it says in John 8:31 - 32, know the truth and the truth will set you free.

Family group

Heather: Another thing that helps your students recover is being put in 'families' while they're with you, how does that work and how would you sum up what your philosophy and approach is to rehab?

Ian: The majority of our students have come from dysfunctional families and many have not experienced the love, security and encouragement that comes from a "good" family. Our approach to residential rehabilitation is to set people into families which is based on the scripture Psalm 68:6. Our object is to give our students the opportunity to feel loved, appreciated and safe, surrounded by people who can become like family to them. We call our senior support workers "house parents", as it is their job to parent the students and provide a family environment. GF is a 24/7 church, as we live, work, rest and play together, in this environment the students can start to trust and relate to people, and even "adopt" others as family members.

Heather: In your experience, what are the main causes of drug and alcohol addiction in the UK and how big a problem is it?

Ian: There are many different causes of addiction and reasons people become addicts, but what all addictions have in common is that they are anaesthetics for the pain someone is feeling inside. If a person has not learnt how to deal with painful situations properly then they will look for other ways to deal with this pain. These other ways often become habits which then turn into addictions, and the activity or substance that a person was using to control the pain then becomes something that controls them. The lack of "good" families to guide and teach children how to deal with pain in a constructive way is one of the many reasons people become addicts.

It is a fact that Britain has the highest statistics in Europe for family breakdowns and single parent families. This collapse of the family as the foundation of a strong society structure inevitably leads to the loss of family identity and meaningful relationships. This in turn has caused so many people to turn to other things to fill that place and cover painful experiences, and subsequently to addictions.

Heather: It's not the easiest of jobs, working with addicts and criminals, why did you begin Gilead in the first place and what keeps you doing it?

Ian: As you say, working with addicts and criminals is not easy - in fact they are one of the most difficult categories to work with. Having said that, it's not something we think about - what we focus on is that these people are desperate for an opportunity to change, deal with their past and move on.

When we first met some "addicts" in 1987, we just knew we had a facility in the farm which could help them learn skills and disciplines for employment opportunities. Once we started to work with them, things just developed from there and we knew God had not only called us to help such people, but also given us the grace, love and patience to do it. Over the years we have developed the skills we need through training and experience, and despite many frustrations, we press on because that's what God has called us to do!