A Missionary Looks at 12 Steps to Overcome Addiction and Sin Healing Our Broken Relationships with Christ and with Others

A Christian based 12-step process helps us to overcome addiction by attaching to the faithful love of the Savior, enabling healthy relationships with other people. And so a missionary, Richard Lehman, looks at the 12-step process, and prayerfully applies the wisdom of the scriptures to it. And in doing so he has also found this process helpful in providing insights into how to work with different individuals to bring them to Christ.

Richard spends much time training hundreds of other ministers. And in addition to helping those addicted, this 12 step process has become a key resource for training gospel workers who help those that are addicted.

Experience has proved that everyone "wrestles" with deep hurts of some kind. There is a deep empty hole in the heart of the soul - and it must be filled somehow. How we fill that hole, or comfort ourselves within that empty space, will determine what sin we become addicted to.

It is sin (someone else's, or ours) that ultimately first creates a void in the heart of the individual. Unfaithfulness is the sin of betrayal. Someone trusted another with their heart, and then that same person broke their heart. It happens to children in their relationship with their parents, or relatives, or trusted others. It happens often within many marriage relationships. And it happens within everyone's life at some point, by how their own sin betrays the faithful love of the Savior.

And so people go through life hiding the pain of betrayal. Instead of seeking for healing through a loving Savior, they resort to other things. And in doing so they become addicted to some substance, some sin, or both. And they often don't know where to start to find a way out. This book seeks to help them not only start down the right path, but to also find complete healing through the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So throughout this 12 step process, you will see that the book is addressed to two audiences at the same time. Those who need help over addictions, and those that are trying to help them. And there is an important reason for this. Because people who need help to overcome addictions, need to completely trust those that are working with them. And so if you are using this process to help them, these people also want transparency and understanding as to what they are being asked to do, and why. There can be no hidden agendas in helping people!

Jesus came so that relationships can be healed. He also sent the comforter of the Holy Spirit, so that every pain that sinful mankind could bring against us, could still be comforted and healed in this life.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14:15-18)

Richard Lehman is from California, USA. He is a non-denominational missionary, currently ministering the gospel primarily in East Africa. In the past he has ministered in six other countries including: Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Mexico and Cuba. Additionally, he has open invites to other African countries which he hopes to visit in the future.

Richard is not a typical modern missionary. He is not sent and directed by a missionary board to an established outpost in a foreign country. He typically travels to a foreign country alone. And when he arrives he meets many new people and prayerfully assesses their spiritual needs, as he labors together with them in the gospel. The principal audiences of his missionary work are ministers. So he spends much time personally developing instructional material specific to their needs. And he travels to many places within these countries to also personally train and educate them. More recently he is sensing a need to work with college young people in these same African countries.

In addition to these missionary travels, he has been writing gospel related material for over 30 years. In the past his principal publishing platform has been the web, publishing on two different websites: TrueBibledoctrine.org, and RevelationJesusChrist.org. Additionally he has also published much written and video content through social media.

Richard has three grown children, and three grandchildren. When not traveling abroad he spends time with family and friends, and other local Christians near his home. His youngest daughter lives in Alaska, and he enjoys being able to break away for a visit to explore the backcountry with her there.