THE GILEAD FOUNDATION is a Christian ministry located at Risdon Farm, Okehampton. James Lewis and Tony Cummings report.

The stories of the people who come to Gilead don't all end happily ever after. Ian reckons a third of the students would not stay the length of the course and in the few days before our interview two out of three men who had arrived recently had left. Some leave and, after ending up worse than before, will re-apply but some only end in tragedy.

One student, called Tim, came to Gilead and did quite well for a while and then left to go back to London. After realising that he was rock bottom Tim returned to Gilead, but he still wasn't in a position to receive help. Ian remembers, "He was here then for a matter of weeks or so - he became anorexic, wouldn't eat anything, craving drugs all the time, just really rebellious. Only a little guy - but he couldn't accept love, couldn't understand how people could love him or try and sit with him and talk to him. We had to get him into hospital because he wouldn't eat anything. He wouldn't accept or respond to any care, so we got him into Exeter Hospital. When we wanted the doctor to section him for his own good, he said that he couldn't - so he walked out of there and went back again to London - Christmas Day last year he was murdered. A very sad case - obviously it upset a lot of the lads here."

But the fact remains that Gilead and other works like it - Teen Challenge and Remar, a series of communities in Portugal and Spain numbering around 4000 people in total - are seeing a very good rate of success. There are of course many factors that help to make this possible - the love and total commitment of the people working at these places, helping the addicts to realise their value as people, the strengthening effect of the community, their down to earth approach - but just talk to any of the people, Ian or Bronwyn Samuel, Steve or Sharon Mason, Julian Lloyd or Ian Taylor or indeed any of the workers or students at any one of these pioneering projects and they will all tell you that it is Factor X, the "Jesus Factor".

Gilead, having fought with the tenacity of faith for its survival, is now in a period of rapid expansion. They have already been given an ex-Christian guesthouse in Newquay which they are using as an annexe, students boarding there then journey up to the farm each day. Planning permission has now been granted for a dramatic expansion for the accommodation on the farm while formative plans are now underway for further Gilead initiatives in other parts of the country. As visionary and toiler for Christ Ian Samuel said, "The vision always was a big vision for this work. Now, by God's grace, it's getting bigger."

lAN'S STORY
In a society where the abuse of drugs and alcohol is ever on the increase, lan's story is not unusual. Up to a point.

In his own words, from a normal family who gave him everything he wanted in life, Ian Taylor started drinking as a teenager of about 14 or 15. Initially, he started drinking to give him the confidence to overcome his shyness and have a good time, but found within a few years that he was totally addicted. Aged 19 Ian checked into a psychiatric hospital for the first of approximately 20 times. Instead of helping lan's problems they loaded him with more. "When I went into hospital they would fill me with drugs so I came out of hospital addicted to the drugs as well as drink."

Grappling with various problems, depression, anxiety, fear, paranoia and self-hatred, Ian found himself in a vicious circle where he would get drunk to get away from the guilt and shame of the previous night's excesses. Ian spiralled about as low as it is possible to get. Becoming a Christian five years ago only halted things for a while. "I went two and half years without anything but I hadn't dealt with the problems, the deep problems. I went out for one drink one day and wham! I went back on the drink... I ended up in a worse mess than I ever could have been in the first place because I knew the truth... I was actually living on the streets of Manchester in Piccadilly and I got to the point of drinking surgical spirits and everything I could get my hands on - I was living like a tramp, my whole world was in a plastic bag."

Guilt at letting down family and Christian friends only worsened the situation and Ian was taking five different medications including an alcohol substitute while maintaining his intake of drink. The pace took its toll. "I'd been in and out of hospital, I'd been vomiting blood, all sorts. I thought I was going to die - I wanted to die."

Whilst lying in hospital at a point of utter despair in Llanelli, a pastor and his wife went to visit him and suggested that he tried the Gilead Foundation. Ian arrived still addicted to the prescribed drugs and in a complete haze. Things started to improve almost from the moment that Ian turned up at Gilead, although it took him a while to appreciate the changes that were starting to happen. The staff at Gilead looked after Ian, even giving him round-the-clock care when a week or so after arriving he disappeared to nearby Okehampton, where they found him completely out of his mind on drugs. Their love and concern helped Ian to gain some self-esteem and the training on the farm re-awakened his love for working with animals.

Now aged 29, Ian looks back at his past with a mixture of regret and gratitude - regret at the wasting of the years and gratitude for the second chance God has given him. Having finished the 18 month programme Ian is staying on at Gilead for a while helping out, where his experience gives him sympathy for the new students he works with.