Lifechangers

I took my son to the location in Holden WV Big mistake it is nothing but a scam run by people taking advantage of these poor loss souls trying to stay clean from drugs. Maybe they have no family or outside support but anything would be better than this place. I am so disappointed they call themselves christians but in reality they are taking advantage of these young men. My son went there it was almost 6 hours away. We drove all night to get him there. I was told he would be fine my son took everything he owned to this place thinking he would be there 12 months. After 5 days my son left there. My son was still detoxing on the 2nd day they had him in Buffalo New York fundraising trip. He left there with only what he could carry. So far from home and no money. He did make it back home but all his belongings were still at Life Changers. I spoke to the man in charge surprisingly he had only been clean for 6 months and seem to be running the whole place. He said he had packed all my sons property and it would be safe. I made arrangements to make the trip back there to pick up his stuff. The man in charge Aurbrey knew I was coming. I arrive and only received not even half of his stuff 2 brand new coats and a packed tub of all his clothes were missing. When asked I was told to wait while they looked after an hour of sitting in the car I was told his stuff was not there. I was so mad and upset I couldn't beleive they would steal my sons things all he had in the world gone! These people are not christians they are theives! I would never recommend anyone take their loved one to Life Changers. CULT not CHRISTIANS! Please beware of this place!

Two young guys outside of Walmart asked me to buy a shirt. I said no but I decided to look anyway. These guys have the deceptive mentality of a addiction. They should NOT be selling anything because they have NOT been DELIVERED. They were trying to coerce me into giving them my $10.00 from my change after buying a bracelet. NEVER SAID THANK YOU! I got in my car and was very disturbed and I said Lord that was NOT YOU! The Lord said go back-I explained that God likes a cheerful giver and what they were doing was wrong but most importantly they could not TESTIFY of how God had delivered them from drugs! People use God's name and he's NOWHERE IN IT! They are deceptive from the true fact that JESUS IS NOT INVOLVED IN THIS CULT!
Oh and the bracelet broke while trying to put it on in the car!

In January 2015 my husband and I entered into the life changers out reach ministry. We were bound in addition to pharmaceutical drugs and methamphetamine. We had lost all hope for life and couldnt see any way out of our addiction. We didnt have a dime to our name and lifechangers took us both in without hesitation. It was there that we encountered the Love of God that forever changed our lives. We have been completely FREE from drugs(including the psych meds his dr. Told him he would always need) and nicotine for almost 4 years. Going through Lifechangers was not only the hardest thing we ever did but the best decision of our lives next to accepting Jesus Christ as our savior (which we did at Lifechangers!) they dont teach you to cope with or manage your addiction there they teach you to bury it forever. Our marriage is better than its ever been and its continuing to get better every day. Our family has been completely restored and Im forever grateful for this ministry. I highly recommend this ministry to anyone who is bound and truly wants to be set free. God bless Lifechangers

My brother went through this program and has been clean for years.
What most people who have not been through this personally, or who have not seen first hand, do not understand, is not just the spiritual, but the mental aspect of this program, and why it works.
Being in the midst of addition, your brain has physiologically been altered & needs to be re-wired. That is why the majority of these 30, 60, 90 day programs have such a high relapse rate (go look it up, its astonishing the amount of times people have been through multiple programs), simply put - our brains need more time. That is why the 1 yr is so crucial.
Now, the prescription drug issue that was mentioned before, was completely false. Yes, the program does not allow ANY mood altering drug, allowing these would be counterintuitive. These can come to be relied upon & later might even be a trigger if they get fearful that they will have to come off of these in the future. Yes, this does include anti-depressants, not just opioids. But the leaders have NEVER and would never not allow someone to take meds that are medically necessary, such insulin for diabetes, antibiotics etc.

Now on to the last, and most controversial issue- the fundraising. Yes, the boys have to work. Period.
This is a program that they offer completely free (yes, if the family is able to help, its great- but it is offered free so that anyone willing and ready, can come get help no matter their circumstances), of course the men & women do not like this in the beginning (or being told what to do at all for that matter) because they have been living in addiction for how long? Everyone who's knows anything about addiction, knows they are not themselves & have been living a SELFISH life for a while- OF COURSE THEY DON'T WANT TO DO IT! Of course it seems cult-like if someone is forcing you to do something you do not like, but that does not mean it is not benefical (but I am assuming the did not like jail all that well either).
Unlike these 30-90 day programs that cost anywhere from a couple thousand to upwards of $25,000, & they are living in an enviroment that is not sustainable once they are in the real world. Anyone can stay sober with all day group-counseling, massages and acupunture, and yes, drugs that are deemed "acceptable" to make it a little easier. But what happens when they get home and real life starts? Problems at work? Screaming Kids? A family who might not be sure if this is real yet, and not ready to open 100% back up.
These programs just want them to be prepared for life, AND That means work- but that is only a fraction of the time. The rest of the time they are receiving biblical counsling, mentorship & if you stick it out & allow God to lead your life, they WILL BECOME YOUR FAMILY.
And just to be clear, I have never heard of ANYONE getting kicked out for not making a certain amount of money each week ( though an attitude and anyone causing division that might affect another persons recovery is a given). No one will receive help, unless they truly want it for themselves. And no matter what some person, who is uneducated on the ins and out of the program said, I will be forever grateful for this program & how it gave my brother a new life in Christ Jesus. Thank you LifeChangers.

My boyfriend is in this place they call "rehab". It is NOT a rehab, it is a CULT. Its sickening they force them to go all over the state to panhandle and get donations to put into their pockets, he has been in there for almost three months and they will not let him communicate with me or his two baby boys, they will not let him call his lawyer either, he needs to contact his lawyer about his case, they are trying to get his court post poned just like they did with a couple other guys, they say they will "take care of it", but dont, a guy got a failure to appear because they didnt let him go to court. They didnt give him any of the letters or pictures i sent him, they threw them all away when i dropped him off i was told i could write him immideatley. He is not allowed to talk about his drug addiction, he gets "wrote up" if he says anything about drugs, all they are doing is shoving god down his throat. He WANTS to get help, he WANTS to transfer to a REAL REHAB with a twelve step program or AA classes. This place is nothing but a sick joke.

I'm an outsider looking in. I have good insight on these programs because I was an addict for 15 years before spending 18 months in a program like this. I've now been clean for 11 years. For those who don't know or understand addiction, depression or what ever your problem is... you were not born that way and it took some learned behavior to get to the bottom. So to get out it takes some extreme measures. First you have to be brought down to nothing, to a point were even the most simple thing (such as a pack of sugar or a small bag of chips or choosing when you get to sit down, talking on the phone, writing a letter, etc. etc...) are important. This is how your brain gets reprogrammed to appreciate the small stuff and forget about the bad stuff. This takes 3 to 6 months. For me it took 6 months to get to this stage. I tried and tried to "buck" the system. Thank the Lord my husband and family said if I left, I couldn't come home... I had no home other than this "horrible cult people place". Yes, at that point I too believed it was a cult. You learn to talk to God again, because He's the only one that will listen to you complain. Finally, I started to relax and go with the flow. I didn't realize that the process was working... my brain was being reprogrammed, I was being reborn. The person I was ashamed of was slipping away and the new person was being reborn. New it's time for the next stage... here you are this new person and you dont know yourself anymore. Who is this person I have become? Where do I go from here? How do I get there? That is why it's important to NOT LEAVE NOW! You need to be in a controlled environment during this stage. Just like you can't just let a toddler have her way in a candy store. Supervision is important. Visits from your family, more phone calls, letters, maybe a picture of your family. You start getting more privileges one thing at a time. You'll find yourself closer to God and that you talk to Him now not to complain about your situation, but just to talk to Him. Then you go to the last stage. Continuing your growing and helping the new lost souls that come in. That are in the same place you were. You will take a lot of abuse from them, but now you are healthy enough to deal with it and to give them the understanding you once received.
MARY H. From Louisiana
Clean 11 years because of a similar program an God

Recent former student. Just escaped Thursday, really. I was only there for two days, but it was the strangest, scariest experience of my life. If something seems to good to be true, it usually is. Everything written in the previous post is absolutely true. I ended up leaving, on foot-no money, no cell phone, and no idea where I was and 7 hours from home! But for a group of people who are so "Christian", they need to expect to get what they have coming.

About as close to a religious cult as you can get. I am a former student of life changers. They tell you when to go to the bathroom and do not let you talk with your family unless you are on speakerphone. There is no healthcare facility here and getting to the doctor is next to impossible. They believe that Jesus will heal you and that you simply lack faith if you need medicine. Even if you have a prescription from the doctor for antibiotics, they reserve the right to pick and choose what you can and cannot take. Even taking a Tylenol or Ibuprofen is sometimes banned. They are not government funded and therefore do not need approval to treat you anyway they see fit.
Beware of free programs. You will earn your keep by traveling up to 12 hours away to fundraise for 2 12 hour days. They make you stand in sub temperatures, lighting storms, and pouring rain - healthy or not. You sometimes get back to the facility at 3am and have to get up at 6am to start the day and will not rest until 9:30pm.

Made an online one time donation to this ministry - BIG MISTAKE - they began billing me for the amount of the one time donation every two weeks - called them everyday for two weeks and couldn't get anyone on the phone to help - emailed over an over and they replied "unfortunately there is nothing we can do - which one christian would never hear from another christian - finally had to stop they many charges through my bank and incur about $200 in fees from my bank just to get the charges to stop - mind you - I've called and emailed - they only thing they would ever tell me is "I was the only one who could cancel the recurring charges" but they would NOT give instructions on how to accomplish this apparent government secret. Finally had to change bank accounts to avoid the charges and 3 months later they start calling and emailing as their debits are returning unpaid which is costing them money so they'd now like to help me stop the recurring payments - and now won't stop calling or emailing me. Now please keep in mind this one time donation was to send me a tape series and a prayer shawl - which I paid for 10 times over - and I never received their promised products either.

If you are a Christian - pray about this of course - but - to avoid evil - NEVER - I repeat - Never make a donation to Gregory $#*!ow Ministries and NEVER attempt to speak with Darlene Brooks an employee of Life Changers who only says "unfortunately, there is nothing I can do" and then blocks your emails and won't take your calls.

They are charletons (sp?)