Discover Hope 5:17

Show open from the Pathway Studios

The hosts open with the produced intro, the live show start from the Pathway Studios in Johnston, and a riff on the phrase "hallowed Monday evening." A host runs down the night: special guests Robbie and Aaron of Discover Hope 517 Ministries, then Dear LFTP letters.

What Discover Hope 517 Ministries is

Robbie describes Discover Hope 517 Ministries of Newton, Iowa, as a faith-based recovery community organization: a judgment-free community center that gives people transitioning out of addiction a biblical foundation, a support network, and a healthy community for sustainable transformation. A host addresses Mike by name and asks him to introduce the two guests.

The cop and the ex-dealer meet in a leadership class

Aaron, a 14-year undercover narcotics officer, and Robbie, who dealt drugs and gang-banged from age 13 and did prison time, met in a leadership class at Newton Church of the Way. Both admit they were skeptical and guarded at first; God changed Aaron's jaded view of addicts and broke Robbie's distrust of police. They did a cardboard testimony together: one side read "black criminal who hated cops" and "cop who hated criminals," the other side "brothers in Christ."

Why Newton needed it, and how it grew

Aaron says Newton, Iowa, is known as a "meth town" yet had no Christ-centered recovery option. What began as an every-other-week 45-minute support group grew from 6 to 12 to 30 to 40 people, with 80-90 on testimony nights, and became a tax-exempt nonprofit open five days a week. Robbie left his full-time welding supervisor job at Vermeer in January 2016 to become executive director, stepping from a $70,000 salary into a ministry with about $1,000.

Addiction as the outward symptom, and the reward

Robbie says addiction is the outward appearance of a deeper sin issue; Discover Hope tries to get at the root pain and model true restoration. He tells of going to court with a woman eleven months clean who received full custody of all three of her children back, crediting her faith in Jesus and the ministry's investment in her. Aaron adds that transformed people in the community create a ripple effect.

What it takes to recover: surrender

• What does it take to recover from addiction, and what is step one for someone who wants out?

A host asks what it takes to recover and what step one is. Robbie says people walk in completely broken, with addiction as their identity; success is empowering them to believe in themselves again and find purpose. He warns the first 90 days are the hardest, relapse comes from keeping a "plan B," and names his own three anchors across 17-plus years of recovery: abstinence, faith in Jesus Christ, and family. The core word is surrender, surrender, surrender to Christ.

Churches putting aside denominations to run the elbows

• How does the church and community help people in addiction when most churches don't know what to do?

A host asks how churches help when most admit they don't know what to do. Aaron says the ministry's vision was to bring multiple churches together for one purpose; seven Newton churches now partner financially and in prayer, and in return Discover Hope is their Christ-centered referral resource with accountability plans. A host frames it as body-of-Christ "elbows": he failed at counseling addicts himself, so he points people to those gifted for it. Robbie describes a spiritual mentor and navigator program, 13 leaders, and about 62 church volunteers.

The housing problem and transitional housing vision

A host asks whether the program can help people leave unhealthy environments, since going "home" may mean going back to the drug. Aaron says transitional housing is on the radar; the immediate focus is their building, with a lease running to about November. Robbie says most people in Newton and Jasper County have somewhere to go, but not a healthy place, and the center teaches sustainability: how to live, manage money, and provide for themselves.

How hard the fight is, and the parking-lot phone call

A host reflects at length that recovery is a war: environment, relationships, and a body fighting against you all at once, comparable to a divorce where the thing you leaned on is gone. Robbie says he educates churches on what addiction really looks like, including non-drug addictions: a man dropped off his laptop at Robbie's door after video games ruined his eight-year marriage. He recounts a 2 a.m.-style phone call from a man in a parking lot being offered a hit who called instead of using, and says that two-minute conversation may have saved the man's life.

Does prison help? The jail ministry bridge

• Does prison ever help, by bringing people to a bottom they would not otherwise reach?

A host asks whether the harsh reality of prison ever brings people to a bottom they wouldn't otherwise reach. Aaron says every person is different; jail is rock bottom for many, and his job lets him intercede rather than just penalize. Discover Hope runs a jail ministry so inmates study the same lessons as the Tuesday group and can walk straight into the community center on release, but he notes many choose to go back to old friends once free. Robbie says his first prison release gave him $100 and no bridge; the second time an aftercare program bridged the gap to housing, work, and fatherhood.

Robbie's conversion: the funeral where 90 were saved

Asked how he met Jesus in prison, Robbie tells his story: in prison at Fort Dodge then Newton Correctional Facility, he went through the InnerChange Freedom Initiative without real heart change. His father died in July 2002; a year later his five-year-old son died in a house fire. At the funeral, in chains, he forgave his mother, his son's mother, and his sister, took responsibility for choosing addiction over fatherhood, and gave an altar call he didn't understand; 90 people gave their lives to Christ. He says that was when his relationship with Jesus began, anchored in Romans 12:2 and the breaking of a generational curse.

Follow me as I follow Christ

A host responds to the conversion story with Paul's discipleship model: "follow me as I follow Christ" - just watch God work rather than memorizing words or writing pamphlets. He argues addiction, his own included, starts with believing a lie and building a house on it, and confesses his own non-illegal addictions are the same disease without anyone trying to put him in the back of a squad car.

The bro tanks bit

The hosts spin a running comedy bit about "bro tanks" - sleeveless tank tops - as a symbol of vanity and pride, joking that one host is constantly handing his over at 1 a.m. and that Aaron gets calls about a large shirtless man walking around Newton.

Aaron the cop in ministry, and a God who pursues

• How do people react when they find out Aaron, a cop, runs an addiction ministry?

A host asks Aaron how people react when they learn a cop runs an addiction ministry. Aaron says he worried it would keep people away, but those who truly want help come anyway; he tells of arresting a relapsed man for driving while barred and talking with him in the squad car about getting back on a better path. The hosts reflect on a God who pursues people who fail and return: "I missed you while you were gone... I meant that stuff I said the first time."

How the ministry changed Robbie and Aaron

• How has involvement in the ministry changed Robbie's and Aaron's lives?

Asked how the work changed them, Robbie says God showed him a new side of himself; salvation is instant but sanctification is lifelong, and leading keeps his integrity in check as husband, father, and spiritual leader. He tells of a woman he walked with for 18 months through repeated relapse whose life is now restored, and of a man hearing voices for 20 years who now has a year of recovery. Aaron says the ministry became a poster child for a white cop and a black convicted felon united in Christ during the Ferguson unrest, and that it made him a better father, son, and leader whose sheriff prays for the ministry.

How listeners can help: volunteer, pray, give

• How can listeners help Discover Hope 517 Ministries?

A host asks how listeners can help. Aaron lists three ways: volunteer at the ministry as a table leader or mentor, pray constantly for the ministry (a Tuesday prayer team covers the group nights), and give, since the 501(c)(3) has no steady revenue. Robbie gives the contact points: discoverhope517.org, discoverhope517@gmail.com, the Discover Hope Five Seventeen Ministry Facebook page, and the community center at 219 North 2nd Avenue West in Newton, Iowa.

The good news has to change people

Wrapping the interview, Mike addresses Ben by name and argues the whole show is about the good news of Jesus Christ actually making an impact: if it isn't changing lives around you, ask God why, and wait for Him to ask you the same question. A host adds the premise behind the episode's theme: look at what people argue about, ask how the good news changes that situation, and if no one is doing the work, you've found a responsibility.

Dear LFTP: should she give up and move on?

• Should I just give up and move on from the relationship?

A listener writes that after a year and a half with a man who took her on amazing vacations but never expressed his feelings, ignored her "do you love me," and then broke up saying the relationship was good but not great, she still holds on to hope. The hosts answer unanimously: yes, move on - run the opposite direction, don't go back, and stop being in a sexual relationship before marriage. The Secular advice agrees she should move on but credits the man with honesty, which the hosts reject: getting caught is not honesty.

Dear LFTP: the tattoo letter and unspoken jet skis

• How can I impress upon my not-so-confident, shy child that getting a tattoo is not a good idea?

A listener worries her ex-husband, who surrounds their 22-year-old son with tattoo-positive actor friends, will take their shy 14-year-old daughter for a bonding tattoo at 18. Robbie says ask what the tattoo represents rather than forbidding it; the hosts say the letter is mostly ammo against the ex and advise raising a confident child who makes her own decisions instead of trying to control what can't be controlled. The Secular advice stresses tattoos are permanent. The segment closes with banter about unspoken prayer requests for jet skis.

Sign-off: Tim Timmons show and touring season

After a final plug for discoverhope517.org, a host asks Mike about the Tim Timmons show in Oskaloosa. Mike says Timmons is a genuine guy who loves Jesus, was generous with his time, and was great with his kids, and plugs timtimmonsmusic.com. The hosts mention upcoming area shows, tell listeners to sign up for the podcast, and close with the sign-off: "be faithful in the means. God will handle the ends."