Harold Stanley- Christian Love Ministries Employee of the Year

One of the first years CLM offered residential treatment the ministry met Harold Stanley, from Blue Ridge, Ga. He still has never taken another drink or drug 15 years later! Harold has worked nearly every job at CLM, and is truly a Jack of all Trades. He’s been the manager of the half-way house, gardener, truck driver, donations manager, cashier at the Murphy Marketplace thrift store, evening residence manager at Father’s House, van driver, forklift operator and lead-guitar player in the Sunday Worship services! Harold resides in one of the duplexes in the Staff Cabin. He is ready and able to fill in or substitute for any and every employee whenever they are out. Harold is one of the main ingredients that make up the CLM ministry! He is, and always has been a very positive influence on all of the 1,845 students during the past 15 years. Words can’t express the honor and appreciation due to him. He’s one in a million- a true asset to God’s Work at Christian Love!

Click to read article by Cherokee Scout- Employee of the Year

Saturday, October 1, 2011 Christian Love Ministries (CLM) was blessed with a gift of almost a ton of potatoes that had been grown for the ministry by the men of Holly Springs Baptist Church, Bryson City, NC. The man who delivered the potatoes, Rick Lossie said: "The church prayed about what we could do to help Christian Love and the drug/alcohol recovery program. God said grow potatoes, so we did!" Rick graduated from the treatment program seven and a half years ago when he came begging for help. He was skin and bones and almost dead from drug/alcohol abuse: "I got saved right there on Sunday morning soon after I got to Christian Love" Rick said, pointing to a spot, an "altar" where the preachers stand. He was telling his story last Sunday night (Oct. 2nd) to the 40 men and women enrolled in the treatment program. "Denny baptized me down in the river along with some other students that turned their lives over to God. That was seven and a half years ago. I really love Christian Love Ministries. This place saved my life!" Three men that graduated from the 11 week long residential treatment program during the past years are members of Holly Springs, so the church does what it can to help support the ministry. The women recently brought pillows, blankets, washing powders, food, and a variety of other useful items and gave them to CLM.

CLM Director, Denny Smith said: "This is exactly the way God showed me 27 years ago that the ministry would work. Local people working together to help provide a non-profit Christian drug/alcohol recovery facility for the men and women who want to have a new life. The ministry took 10 years to be built (1986-1996). It was built by local people volunteering. We appealed to people in the community to donate money to buy building materials. When we'd get enough for one part of the job we'd spend it, then keep raising money for the next phase. It took 10 years to build it that way, but we've never gone into debt. We've always waited on the Lord. He said build it, so we would wait on Him to send the money, then we'd do the work. The ministry opened its doors and started helping people August 6, 1996. Since then almost 1,850 men and women have gone through the 2 ½ month residential program. CLM has 14 employees, including male and female substance abuse counselors. It's an excellent program. It works." According to their statistics, 35-51% are successful at overcoming their addictions. For more information, and to start helping support CLM call 828-837-7086, or write and mail in contributions to P.O. Box 376, Murphy, NC 28906-0376. CLM is a 501 c3 non-profit organizationl.

PHOTOS: The picture with 4 people. Left to right: Arthur and Judy Wade, Rick and Kim Lossie.

“Father’s House” was the answer to the question: “Heavenly Father. We are building the building You told us to. What do you want it to be called?” The same day I announced the mission to build CLM, I met with my family for lunch after church that day. I’d been promising them that I would let them know what the Lord was dealing with me about, and that day was finally time that I felt peace about making it public. I told them: “God has called me into the ministry.” My Dad said; “See there! I knew it! God has called you to preach!” I quickly explained that, No, I wasn’t a preacher, that the ministry God had given was to build a drug/alcohol recovery center. Daddy’s Mother, Faye Smith, had just recently died, and she’d left 11 acres of land to my Dad. I asked my parents, Ray and Tina Smith: “Would you like to invest your land in something eternal?” They asked what I was talking about. I told them; “God wants to build a drug/alcohol recovery center, and the first thing we are going to need is a piece of land. You just inherited 11 acres of land from Maw Maw Smith. Would you like to invest it in a ministry of saving souls and lives?” They looked at each other for just a moment, then looked back at me, shaking their heads yes. The excitement started that day, and it never ended for my parents until they took their final breaths. They loved the ministry, and all the men and women that have been helped there. The name “Father’s House” would honor our Heavenly Father, Almighty God, as well as acknowledging my earthly Father. All of the men and women that were ministered to for the first 10 years of operations, lived in “Father’s House.” There are two wings to the upstairs of the building where all the bedrooms are. Men lived in one wing, and ladies in the other. They were forbidden to speak to each other or bond together in any way, but it was the greatest problem that plagued the ministry. Housing 21 “students,” both men and women under the same roof was a constant source of stress and aggravation. It took ten years, but God finally answered the prayers for separate facilities. The center for women was named “Mary’s House,” in honor of Mrs. Mary Miller, a local woman who devoted her life to helping men and women overcome problems with alcohol. Things are not perfect, but they are much better now that the programs are segregated. “Father’s House” has 21 beds for men. “Mary’s House” has 16 beds for women. They are still forbidden to speak to, or look at each other, but occasional problems still come up because of housing both sexes on the same mountain.

The 13th chapter of 1st Kings holds a lesson of a man given a definite job to do with clear, specific instructions. He obeyed God in every way but one. He was told, do not turn aside and spend time or eat with anyone while carrying out the task. An old prophet lied to him, saying that God told him that he should go home with him and eat. When the man did so, God revealed to the old prophet that the man had disobeyed God, and he would be killed by a lion in the streets. How sad that the man with such a clear calling ended up dying tragically because he didn’t follow God’s instructions exactly. For nearly two years in 1988 and ’89 I knew that God had a specific calling on my life, to construct a Christ-centered drug/alcohol recovery center. No doubt many people were praying during those days for God to come and help their children or other loved ones that had become addicted to alcohol and/or drugs, and needed professional, quality help to assist them to overcome the bondage they had become enslaved to. God heard their prayers and inspired a group of men and women to construct such a facility. I prayed every day from about 3:30-5:30 a.m. begging God to show me exactly how He wanted it done. My family and my brothers and sisters in Christ knew God was doing something in my life, but I put them off for those two years until God gave all the details. October 26th 1986 I announced publically to my family and the members of Boiling Springs Baptist that God had called me to be a “minister” (which means a servant), and the ministry He gave was to build a non-profit drug/alcohol recovery facility to help our local people, who were desperate to change, to overcome their addictions. For the next several years I went to every business, church, club, etc. telling them that “God is going to build a drug/alcohol recovery facility to help our local people, and that they were invited to help build and support it.” Many, many people were inspired by the Holy Spirit to work together with us, giving money, building materials, legal services, accounting services, etc. etc. to make such a facility a reality. I knew that God had said to do it, so I thought “He will provide everything, and the ministry will probably open in a year”. It took ten years of constant labor to put everything into place according to God’s instructions so that the center would stay opened once we began helping people. We let the first man and woman move in for help August 6, 1996. In the 15 years since that day there have been over 1,846 men and women that have come voluntarily to conquer their addictions through a personal relationship with God that they began during their residence at Christian Love Ministries (CLM). God built the facility. God has provided, through His people, everything to build and operate the ministry for the past 25 years! In the same way God created the earth, beginning with nothing, He created CLM. One or two details are still to come for the entire vision to be completed according to His plan. We pray that you will hear God calling “Come over and help us” (Acts 16:9). As you read this, I hope you hear the Lord calling you into the ministry of working with Him to set His people free from the slavery of the demon Bondage (Romans 8:15). That is his name. If you would like to see God performing miracle after miracle, you are invited to come, give your time, your talent, and your treasure to work in the deliverance ministry at Christian Love Ministries. Please come!