Beyond Recovery – Executive Summary

Wisdom in Living Life is a 501(c)(3) non-profit Christian ministry organization founded in 2000 to educate, equip, and empower God’s people to effectively reach those imprisoned by addiction to alcohol and other drugs. The ministry was founded by Winn Freeman, a recovered long-term heroin, methamphetamine, and alcohol addict. After graduating from Bible college and subsequently working his way up to the directorship of the Greenville Rescue Mission in 1994, Freeman developed a Bible-based substance abuse recovery program known as Overcomers. Over the ten years Freeman oversaw the program—working only with the homeless and indigent—he realized a sustained success rate of over 70 percent, as measured after a one-year post-program follow up. Since then, the Miracle Hill Rescue Mission has continued using Freeman’s program.

With knowledge of the fact that no such program was available to the middle and upper segments of the community and that the secular, medical-model, addiction-as-disease approach programs typically yielded success rates only in the single digits—less than 10%, Freeman was convinced that his proven and highly successful program should be expanded and offered to the entire community. So, in 2000 Freeman left the rescue mission to found Wisdom In Living Life Ministry.

Since then Freeman has operated mostly in the Upstate of South Carolina as a one-man ministry, working in the narrowly defined arena of addiction to alcohol and other drugs, assisting not only addicted individuals but their significant others, families, churches, companies, and other organizations by providing support, information, and training. Utilizing the biblical techniques he developed at the mission, Freeman, now widely known as “The Drug Guy,” also engaged in intensive personal reclamation, working tirelessly with a number of individuals, one at a time, over sustained periods, opening his home to them during the process. Doing so, he has helped many addicts overcome their addictions, reintegrate into their families, join or rejoin a church congregation, and become productive members of the community, some for the first time.

The sustained success of Freeman’s program has won the unbridled approval of political, business, and religions leaders, many of whom either serve on his advisory board or operating board of directors. Indeed, a focus group composed of a cross-section of community leaders, including professionals knowledgeable in substance abuse issues, concluded that Freeman’s program should be expanded to include a long-term residential component, thus having the effect of exponentially multiplying his effectiveness, thus offering a true alternative to the diseasemodel approach to the addiction problem.

To that end over fifty acres of land was donated by Cliffs Communities founder Jim Anthony to what has become known as the Beyond Recovery project, which will be located in northern Greenville County. Additional cash and in-kind donations have also been made toward the goal of $5.8 million. Ministry infrastructure and support personnel are now in place to sustain planning, fundraising, building, and operation of the facility.

Please contact us should you wish to have further information or if you would just like to discuss the project further. Please pray and ask God what He would have you do to help make Beyond Recovery a reality.