KINGMAN, Ariz. (BP) –In a week, Americans will celebrate the freedoms fought for and gained 250 years ago. Events will be marked by fireworks and cookouts, swimming, games, concerts and other assorted entertainment. It will all justify an occasion worthy of such celebration, honoring those who paid the price and made the sacrifices long before a celebration could take place.
Bruce Cannon has seen repeated celebrations of freedom through his work as associational mission strategist at River Valley Baptist Association (RVBA), which straddles Arizona and California. Those celebrations aren’t nearly as well-known, but no less seismic in their scope for individuals and families. The road getting there is hard, as are the steps to continue.
Four churches in the association work through the Set Free model, pioneered out of Set Free Church in Yucaipa, Calif., a Southern Baptist congregation that works specifically with those snared in addiction.
“These folks are amazing,” said Cannon. “Set Free baptizes a slew of people each year because they share the Gospel with a passion and immerse the people in the Bible. Our association heavily supports these churches as they deal with ‘the least of these.’”
For those congregations, he added, “Go” isn’t a suggestion.
“They literally go out in the street and find the homeless, different people who want a life change. They tell these people about the program and invite them to stay with them awhile.”
A place for healing, rebirth
The association covers not only northwest Arizona, but stretches into eastern California, leading the semi-retired Cannon to cover some 19,000 miles on the road annually. The Set Free churches were already there in Needles, Blythe and Desert Center, Calif., with another in Vicksburg, Ariz., when he arrived seven years ago.
“In short, they are residential churches for … ex-druggies, ex-cons, the chronically homeless, formerly battered and abused,” Cannon said. “The churches often house many people, focusing on mothers with kids.”
Residents begin with a 60-day detox from substances and screens. They then move into a Bible-based “boot camp” that focuses on study and worship, but also teaches work skills.
“Their stories are amazing and heartbreaking,” said Cannon. “Many of these folks have been to the edge of hell and looked over the abyss. Some have been rescued from the near-fall into the abyss.”
Continued discipleship
His work with the Needles and Blythe churches includes two manuals he wrote, collectively called Biblical Leadership Academy, while serving through the International Mission Board in Damascus, Syria.
The first is a 31-week course saturated in Scripture reading, journaling and biblical research on a specified theological topic of the week, followed by lectures and discussions on that topic. Those lessons are then applied to real-life situations. The second is a 16-week speaking practicum covering all 16 chapters of Romans.
“We have had about 200 graduates of these courses,” said Cannon, “with about 80 coming through Set Free.”
The battle doesn’t come without casualties. Only about 30 percent make it through the initial detox. If they make it through that, though, a rebirth tends to take shape.
“A lot of them have been there for two, up to seven, years. And they talk about their life on the street or in abuse or in prison,” Cannon said. “And now, they’re serving Jesus and working.”
For those who don’t have a job, maintenance-level opportunities are procured through professional sporting events, such as MLB spring training in Phoenix and the PGA’s annual visit to Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego.
No church answers
Classes don’t come with standard church answers, as he learned.
“You get down-and-dirty life answers,” Cannon said. “They don’t know cliches. They know hard life, and when they met Jesus, they met Him radically. The worship services are loud and boisterous. The transformation in these folks would shock and scare a lot of us.”
It’s not uncommon to see many fall back into their own ways. Still, others persevere even to become leaders. The RVBA Set Free pastors are all graduates of the program.
The classes that Cannon teaches range from 15-20 students and are supplemental to the Set Free model. A conversation he had with the graduates-now-leaders showed a biblical perspective of the steps of gaining freedom, then working to keep it. Their original Bible training was wide, but not very deep, due to where people were when they entered the Set Free program.
“We weren’t getting in-depth [instruction],” they told him. “With yours, we go deeper. That’s why we love it.”
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