Exploring the Principles of Wholistic Restoration Part 1: Spiritual

In this work, not every story is a success story. The road to change is paved with hard work and there’s no magical shortcut. We put the five principles of wholistic restoration in place in order to build the foundation to restoration and recovery and when followed, even if it’s not always easy, these principles are the path to a better life. In the next several blogs I will discuss each of the five areas of wholistic restoration and why they’re important and also outline some of the specific benchmarks we set within each of those areas to benefit those we serve.

First up is SPIRITUAL.

The Restoration Program is unapologetically Christ-centered. We respect faith-based programs that require a certain number of church services or Bible studies to be attended. We acknowledge that this is definitely helpful and even increases the potential for long-term recovery and restoration. In the way of structured requirements, we expect our men and women to do far more in their spiritual life than attend church services, classes and groups.

In addition to other spiritual requirements, most importantly, we ask them to belong to, become members of, and remain deeply involved in what we call their home church. By Phase 2, we require them to be giving financially, serving regularly, worshiping weekly, and meeting in person with an approved mentor from their home church.

The term home church is very intentional. We believe the local church is God’s means for making disciples of Jesus Christ. Jesus told Peter that he was the rock on which He would build His church and the gates of hell would not overcome it (see Matthew 16:18). When the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, after Jesus ascended to heaven, the result was the birth of the church (see Acts 2:1–4). When the Apostle Paul traveled, he planted local churches by preaching and teaching the gospel, training and appointing leaders, and writing letters directly back to them about how to live in the context of a New Testament local church.

If you are a nonprofit, we encourage you to partner with local churches. If you are an individual Christ-follower working to restore the life of someone in extreme poverty using the principles put forward in this book, we encourage you to partner with local churches. In both cases, the transitional strategy of phases we will look at in future blogs is designed for you to have a high level of influence early on with those in the restorative process, and then to slowly and intentionally help them commit to a home church for long-term discipleship. If you are a church seeking to launch or reform a restorative ministry, you can be both the restorative program and the home church, which has its advantages and disadvantages. Remember, I started a restorative ministry while on staff at a local church, and there are challenges. In the spiritual area of restoring lives, the home church is a vital piece, but there are more pieces to the spiritual puzzle. Some of the benchmarks in this area include:

·      Group devotions. These morning and evening thirty-minute devotions help develop a daily rhythm and discipline. They also provide many opportunities for volunteers to come in to serve and lead the men and women.

·      Soulwork. The word homework carries with it some baggage, so we use the word “soulwork” instead. We want them to see soulwork as a tool more than a rule. Soulwork consists of a weekly report, mentor and church attendance reports and Scripture and prayer tools.

·      Scripture and prayer. As part of their soulwork, we ask that they document times in Scripture and prayer using Bible reading and prayer method tools we provide. Those tools are perfect for the Study Hour class times and for those who may need to be given additional or disciplinary assignments.

·      Memory verses. Every week, we collectively memorize a verse or short passage of Scripture. Participants share how successfully they memorized it and, more importantly, in a chaplain check-in, what they learned from slowly processing it.

·      Mentoring. In Phase 1, they see a Phase 3 participant, and by Phase 2, they have a mentor from their home church. Weekly mentoring is part of the structure principle of restoration but is obviously key to the relationship principle as well.

·      Classes. Faith from Beginning to End is the core spiritual curriculum that teaches what we discuss in Chapter 7 of Change for the Poor: accountability and time management. Purpose Driven Life is a favorite because of the 40 daily readings and assignments and because those who are hopeless need to believe that God has a purpose for their life. There are more, but these are a couple of spiritual classes that we employ.

·      Testimonies. Before they transition through the phases, we want to see in writing evidence of healing, how they are being spiritually restored in the way they understand and have experienced forgiveness, and an account of what has changed since they entered the program.

Next time we’ll discuss the second element of the wholistic approach to restoration: relational.

About Mark McKnelly

Mark McKnelly is an author, motivational speaker and wholistic life restoration minister and coach. McKnelly develops and helps other organizations develop programs for men and women reentering society from incarceration or recovering from addiction. He shares his practical process in his book Change for the Poor to teach others how to help individuals in extreme material and relational poverty restore their own spiritual, relational, personal, vocational and financial lives. His personal journey through addiction and recovery led him to his ministry.