Jesus instead of the bottle
The purpose of the Pentecostal Gospel Centres is to
give hope to everyone asking for help for his alcohol and
drug problems. We don't want to compete with other public
or private offers of treatment, but we believe however that
ours is a good alternative, supplementing the other ones.
Worthwhile values
The reason why results seem to be better at the
Gospel Centres rather than in many other secular
rehabilitation homes is not because of expertice in the fields of health
and social care. It's rather because of the motivating power
and the sympathy and compassion which the work is based on.
As a great number of the workers are former addicts,
they know best where "the shoe pinches".. And they all have
an ability to identify and sympathize with the newcomer, so
that bitterness and unrest in body and soul are soon replaced
by peace. In this way we are able to give the addict a very
good alternative to the destructive effects of intoxication. This
is the competence which we are building on.
Behind the rapid progress and the good results of the
P.G.C. there is a clearly defined pupose and there are
wothwhile
values.
Care and after-care
The P.G.C. was founded in 1983 by Lise and Ludvig
Karlsen i cooperation with a number of Pentecostal Churches, and
in the summer of that same year, the first rehabilitation
centre was dedicated at Roa. Nobody could have foreseen
the development to come. The need for help was great, and
our alternative in the care of drug and alcohol addicts has
proved itself worthwhile.
Today the P.G.C. has 36 units, in-cluding two family
centres (parents and children), one for single mothers with
children and expectant mothers who don't want an abortion
and centres for single men and for single women.
Additionally the number of units also include a
technical school, a car repair shop, a Bible-School,
carpenter's workshops, farming and forestry as an offer to the
residents. At Kløfta we have our own printing works, where we
print our own magazine, printed matters for our
administration and Church-Magazines, etc. In Oslo we find the
main administration of the Gospel Rehabilitation Centres, a
Bible School and living-quarters.
Up to now more than 10000 have stayed at one of
our rehabilitation centres, and research confirms that half of
them are functioning in society today. Several months at a
Gospel Centre with other converted addicts has given such
good results.
Positive effects
The living expences are reasonable when we compare
with others, and some social security offices cover the
expenses for their clients. But at times as many as 30 % of our clients
are without a fixed address and these are without
financial assistance. We have had a grant from the state, which
has partially covered this for the last few years.
However, the main part of our income comes from individuals, campaigns and churches.
We have work in the down-andout milieu in Oslo, and
have an active preventive and educational work in many of
the country's schools, in addition to the work of rehabilitation
at the Centres. All in all, this is a work with 70sitive
results. People are delivered from their drug and alcohol
problems, families are reunited, and the work of police, social
services, hospitals and Justice courts are being lightened. But all
this costs money, and therefore we need help from all
positive forces
Erik Edin, the director of the Swedish Lewi Petrus
Stiftelsen. (Equal to the Norwegian Gospel Centres):
I have never seen such results before
I had the great priviledge to be present at the dedication
of the Gospel Centres ` first home at Roa on July 2nd 1983,
and since then I have been able to follow the development
in different ways. During the 30 years that I have been
the leader of Lewi Petrus Stiftelsen. I have had the
opportunity of seeing similar works both in Sweden and in many
other
countries. I have never seen an activity develop in such
a positive way before and with such results as the
Gospel Centres of Norway.
It is a very moving and encouraging experience to see all
the homes that have already been restored and to listen to
the testimonies about Jesus from former alcohol and
drug addicts. Their effective rehabilitation has been the basis for
a completely new life. This is a work which one should
support in every way.
Our friends, Lise and Ludvig Karlsen, took the iniative
to begin this work. They have worked wholeheartedly
and zealously, putting their lives in God's hands. They have
also become a wonderful inspiration for the
Norwegian Pentecostal Movement, especially for reaching the
outcasts of society. They are a special gift to the whole of Norway
to save and help those families who have been damaged
by alcohol and drug addiction who otherwise, in the majority
of cases would have heen l(]Rt
A work of God
For many years I had an uneasy feeling. In spite of all
the good branches of the Pentecostal Movement, I realized
that we didn't do enough for those who were ½outcasts+
because of the curse of the addiction.
But I praise the Lord, and I want to thank Lise and
Ludvig Karlsen who received the vision for the Gospel Centres
and all their coworkers who dedicate time and energy to this
so difficult, but also so fruitful work.