The following is a letter of testimony from a grateful facilitator:

"I'm writing to share my experience with our recently completed Insight Group. We held it at the Physical Fitness facility where I work-out, a Christian facility. The breakthroughs, insight and healing that took place in those several weeks were awesome and humbling.

I began my training as a Facilitator with Turning Point in the early 90's. All through the following years, I saw God's mercy, grace, and faithfulness to the participants and to me. Lives were dramatically changed, faith walks deepened and renewing of hearts and minds in the Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit. The discipling that this curriculum provided through God's word as the true foundation for their healing was unmatched by anything else I had ever found or provided as an addictions counselor.

A review by Dan Strickland.

In the book, Deep-Rooted in Christ: The Way of Transformation, author Joshua Choonmin Kang states, "Life's problems are best solved at the root level; that's where we care for our souls; that's where the medicine is spiritual discipline."

The focus of Living Free ministry is to connect hurting people with the source of life, helping them establish a vibrant living relationship with Christ.

Dan Strickland and Clayton Arp of Lifeline Connection conducted Living Free training in Louisville, Kentucky, for prospective leaders of Lifeline Connection. Participants are planning to begin programs in Tulia, Texas; Bristol, Virginia; Fairfield and Richland Counties, South Carolina; and Kiev, Ukraine.

Lifeline Connection is a community-based program that coordinates churches, law enforcement, criminal justice systems, and other agencies together to curb the use of illegal drugs in communities devastated by their use. It is small group ministry, offering a faith-based alternative to court-ordered secular groups. Each Lifeline ministry is unique and adjusts to the uniqueness of its community and regional needs.

The day after the training, participants observed a very successful Lifeline Connection ministry in Meade County, Kentucky. Joyce Mann, the director of the Meade County Lifeline, arranged for us to visit the county jail where she and other volunteers conduct many groups with inmates. After their release, Lifeline Connection provides follow-up care and assistance with life skills to help former inmates resume their lives.

A book review by Dan Strickland:

This past week I came across a book that I think will help Living Free group facilitators be better equipped to lead their groups. It is Seeking God Together: An Introduction to Group Spiritual Direction and is written by Alice Fryling.

While not exactly related to our type of small group, it has tremendous relevance for facilitators as they help people turn to God and his resources when experiencing life's problems.

The following is an interview with Elena Kulagova, a psychologist who also trains churches and ministries in Living Free. She shares how the ministry of Living Free began in Siberia. (Elena is pictured here with her husband, Evgeniy)

Elena initially shared about a young man who had attended the Living Free groups in conjunction with the Teen Challenge Leadership Training Institute. After returning to his local church in Novosibrisk Siberia, this young man shared with his pastor what he had experienced with Living Free. He also discovered that the vision for the church that year was "Before somebody begins to minister here, their souls should be set free."

As a result, Elena was invited to come to the church in Novosbirsk and taught the Living Free seminar in June 2008. The pastor and his wife were among the participants, and she wanted to coordinate the program for their church. After all the leaders went through the groups, they were able to see the great changes that had taken place in their own lives and the freedom from many life-controlling problems that they were experiencing. Obviously, the leadership team was hungry for God and desired to minister to the people. So, the decision was made to introduce Living Free to all the home meetings of the church.