Response to the Crisis of Addiction

In 2018, Hurricane Florence brought ReachGlobal Crisis Response to serve in Morehead City, North Carolina.

As the team built relationships in eastern North Carolina, another crisis became apparent: the impact of substance abuse addiction on the region.

In 2023, the Morehead City, North Carolina site transitioned from hurricane recovery ministry to focusing exclusively on opportunities to share the love of Christ in the wake of broken relationships and damaged lives caused by substance abuse addiction.

ReachGlobal Crisis Response has three goals for ministry in Morehead City:

1. Build relationships locally and disciple those struggling with addiction and those in recovery
2. Partner with One Harbor Church, providing additional manpower and resources for their already successful addiction ministry
3. Develop, empower and release the EFCA and other churches to minister to addicts in their own communities

As a part of our response to Hurricane Florence, several men from a local addiction recovery mentoring home were already volunteering to help families recover from the hurricane, build relationships and develop new skills. ReachGlobal Crisis Response staff have invested in some of these relationships for the last couple years. Monthly work days will continue as one avenue to build relationships between those battling addiction, members of the church and our team.

One Harbor Church has poured into addiction recovery ministry for many years, and we are hoping to leverage their knowledge to help other churches with an interest in this area. Crisis Response staff and teams will look for ways they can both support existing ministries in North Carolina and create new ones in their sending communities. We recognize that this crisis knows no bounds and impacts communities of all sizes across the country.

Pray

• For wisdom and discernment for our staff as we build a new response in partnership with One Harbor Church.
• For open doors to share the love of Christ in communities and families impacted by addiction.
• For healing in the hearts, families and communities impacted by addiction.

Serve

This site will host small teams on a limited basis.

Teams will learn about the reality of addiction in the U.S. through personal testimonies and other resources. They will complete small projects that either support the addiction/recovery population directly or indirectly, through serving communities that historically have high rates of addiction.

Email respond@efca.org for more information.

Give

Unlike other crises we normally respond to, this crisis has been growing steadily for decades with no clear starting point and no foreseeable end. We appreciate your gifts to sustain ministry and provide resources as we are responding to the crisis of addiction.

We anticipate funds will cover things like materials to renovate and improve local recovery houses, training and educational materials for teams, meals and necessities for recovery home residents and other things like insurance, travel expenses, tools and more.

Give online or send a check with Crisis Response Account 2170-3939 in the memo line to:

EFCA, 901 E 78th St, Minneapolis, MN 55420