Promise
Land Ministries Church Of the Narrow Way
Administering God’s Loves and Grace, Jesus Christ, our Lord and
Savior
Inside
Promise Land
I
am Al Plume, Pastor of Promise Land Ministries
Church
of the Narrow Way (Promise
Land). My Wife, Pastor Sandra
and representatives of our congregation are pictured below.
Promise
Land is a small Church with services on Sunday
mornings, Sunday evenings, and Wednesday evenings. We
provide a variety of ministries with focus on Children, Youth,
Men and Women.
Our Outreach
Ministries are actively working toward serving
those within our community who are in need:
Food Ministry
- Distributes food to many of the hungry living
in Gilmer
County. Promise Land works in conjunction with
Angel Food Ministries, organized to
feed some 300,000
families monthly throughout the State of
Georgia.
Ministry to the
Elderly - Volunteers visit Shut-ins
in their homes and at the Gilmer County Nursing Home, interact with the Senior
Citizen Group meetings in Ellijay, and can be found helping where needed, such
as mowing lawns, repairing roofs, general home repairs, grocery shopping,
driving individuals to appointments, etc.
Community Concerns and
Service - Promise
Land members volunteer daily to help with projects throughout the
community. Three or four men volunteer daily to work at the Faith, Hope and
Charity Recycle Store (This organization gives thousands of dollars monthly to
aid those in need. Their services include, but are not limited to, helping
homeless mothers and their babies, providing individuals with life saving
medication). Promise land men also volunteered for community projects such as cleaning up
the debris left by Hurricane Ivan, roadside litter-removal, and continue to be
available when needed.
Our Concerns
One of
the major problems facing our society today is the breakdown of the family
unit. The ramifications of alcohol and/or drug addiction are a major
contributor to the decay of sacred family values, the basic fiber of our
society. Virtually, every household has been negatively affected by the
behavior of drug and alcohol abusers. This demon is a destructive force that
affects the lives of men and women, regardless of age, and includes every
walk-of-life: preachers, teachers, doctors and nurses, attorneys, engineers,
professional ball players, mechanics, carpenters, and the list goes on.
It is now estimated that
80% of those imprisoned have been convicted of drug and alcohol-abuse or related
crimes. These crimes continue to increase regardless of the legislation passed,
laws instituted, punishment inflicted, or the billions of dollars allocated to
such programs.
Education of our youth
regarding the dangers of substance abuse has been a priority of federal, state
and local governments. There is legitimate concern about the effectiveness of
programs like the past "Just Say NO!" campaign or the current D.A.R.E. agenda.
Unfortunately, documentation seems to indicate a continued increase in the
number of teens who are using drugs and alcohol; even more alarming, the
indication that pre-teens are also becoming involved. Young people are most
vulnerable to drugs and alcohol since they build up tolerance quickly and become
addicted more readily than adults.
Why It Is Not Working?
Current efforts to curb
the problems of drug and alcohol addictions are not working, because they
generally approach the subject from a behavioral viewpoint. Such an approach is
based on a punishment and reward system. Thus, not having a high success rate.
The main reason for the low rate of success is that the symptoms are treated
rather than the root causes. If education, laws, and punishment could take care
of the problem, then there would be no problem and Christ would have died for
nothing.
Faith-based - Christ Centered Approach
Faith-based drug and
alcohol regeneration ministries have had the highest success rate. Government
statistics indicate that the success rate of faith-based ministries far exceeds
that of all other rehabilitation efforts.
We Believe
The
Family is the basic
structure of God's Creation, and that it is essential to preserve and protect
its sanctity. Husbands, fathers, and sons are the heads of their families, the
priests of their households; we deemed it appropriate to begin a Men's
Regeneration Ministry, eighteen years ago, for Drug and Alcohol Addiction.
The Root Problem
is found in the hearts of men. No program, law, or punishment can change the
heart of a man. Nor can a man change his own heart. Only God, the Creator of
humankind can change man's heart. Thus, God brings about the necessary changes,
by the transforming of the heart and the renewing of the mind, making the man a
new Creation.
God Is The Only Hope
for the addicts, their families,
and our communities. The evidence is in the results.
What is Happening at Promise Land?
The guests of Promise
Land Ministries Church of The Narrow Way are habitual drug addicts and
alcoholics. These men have tried and exhausted every possible treatment
available to them; their lives have become serious situations of life
or death. In their time of desperation they are led to
Promise Land and turn to the Lord for help.
More than 2,600 men have
come to Promise Land during the past 18 years. They come to us without our having to
advertise or invite them. They are welcomed without charge, for "Unlike so
many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit." 2 Corinthians 2:17. We
believe that what God has to give them cannot be bought, thus no
individual at Promise Land has paid for services rendered, nor is anyone charged for
receiving these services.
Even though men come to
us from all walks of life, they do share the common thread of hopelessness,
needing and wanting help. While at Promise
Land, these men study the Word of God and learn how to apply the Word into
their own lives, The Word of God being Jesus Christ.
Many lives have been
changed here, and testimonies of these men touch the hearts of others, often
bringing tears of joy to the eyes of the listener. The men find new meaning in
life, their families are restored, and they again become productive members of
society.
********
We do understand the
fears and concerns that arise in a community where a facility for drug addicts
and alcoholics is in operation. However, the immediate dangers do not stem from
addicts who are in recovery and re-establishing their relationships with Jesus
Christ. The significant dangers come
from those who are actively using illegal substances, and are in denial of their
addictions. These dangers are real, taking the form of drunken drivers on the
roads, dealers selling drugs to your children to pay for their own addictions,
or the many devastating crisises connected with addiction related crimes.
*********
My
final thoughts....
If
a man is born again and
empowered by the Holy Spirit, he will know the truth,
the truth will set him free, and we will know him by
his love for others.
Please help us make
addiction an affliction of the past for these men. Although money cannot buy
what they need, money will provide for their basic needs as the men are being
discipled and empowered from on high.
TO GOD BE ALL THE
GLORY!
Thank you,
Al Plume,
Pastor
