From Boys to Godly Men
Photos by Josh Larson
The success of Calvary Chapel’s rehabilitation programs centers on seeing the whole person transformed by God’s Word and the love of Christ, not by merely focusing on chemical addiction.
Pastor Ken Graves (left) of Calvary Chapel Bangor, ME, exhorts the men at the U-Turn for Christ ranch in Perris, CA. U-Turn was started 27 years ago by Gerry Brown, pastor of CC Romoland, CA. There are now 16 U-Turn programs in the U.S. and seven overseas.
Every day of Zack’s life felt like it was still October 1, 2017: the day of the Las Vegas mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest music festival. His friend and several others were shot dead right beside him. Sixty people were killed. Afterward, memories of screams and gunfire invaded everything he did, and panic clenched his chest when in crowds. Zack wondered, Why was I the one who got to go on living, after making such a mess of my life?
Despite his Christian upbringing, Zack embraced a party lifestyle after high school, which only worsened after his Las Vegas trauma. His life in shambles, he sought help at U-Turn for Christ in Perris, CA, run by his former high school football coach, Gerry Brown. In the months there, Zack’s relationship with Christ grew as his chemical addiction diminished. Yet he still felt imprisoned.
Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14
Pastor Gerry Brown (right) and Ken fellowship after the service. Gerry had asked Ken to detour from his travel plans to encourage the men going through the U-Turn for Christ program in Perris. Ken founded another Christ-based rehabilitation program in Maine, Calvary Residential Discipleship (CRD).
With 16 U-Turn for Christ campuses nationally and seven overseas, Gerry has much less time to spend on the original Perris ranch he founded 27 years ago. Nevertheless, when in town, “I’m on the property on a daily basis, making sure the guys know they can approach me for counsel,” he explained. Crossing the yard one day, he noticed Zack’s dejected expression and called him over. After hearing Zack’s struggles and applying God’s Word to them, Gerry hearkened back to their original bond. Clapping a firm hand on Zack’s shoulder, he declared, “Zack, you’ve got to keep your focus on what God kept you alive for. It’s time to get back on the field and give it all you have.”
“Yes, Coach!” Zack replied, beaming. Zack is now a crew leader, responsible for a group of U-Turn men during community outreaches. He has even taken his group to large sporting events, overcoming his fears. “He’s made a big change,” Gerry reflected. “He’s still in the process of working things out, but he’s realizing God spared his life.”
Congregants at CC Romoland pray for the CRD ministry. The success of Calvary Chapel’s rehabilitation programs centers on seeing the whole person transformed by God’s Word and the love of Christ, not by merely focusing on chemical addiction.
Gerry estimates nearly 10,000 people have graduated from the Perris men’s and women’s ranches alone. Though the road is hard, for those who endure he has seen families reunited, marriages restored, and criminals transformed into ministry leaders. “It comes from the centrality of God’s Word and being taught to apply it to their lives, turning knowledge into wisdom,” he insisted. “Men arrive dejected and depressed and leave strong, humble, and confident. Over time, we see the mindset changing from self-concern, even self-pity, to being others-minded. It starts in little things, like thinking to hold the door open for someone else, or picking up trash, not because someone told them to but because they take pride in God’s property being its best.”
During this interview, rain lashed down outside CC Romoland, CA, which Gerry pastors and U-Turn participants attend. He proudly watched his men, without being asked, reach for umbrellas to help other churchgoers get inside. “You should see the smile on their faces,” he rejoiced. “It’s not an attitude of, ‘OK, I have to do this’; it’s ‘Lord, I can’t believe You’re allowing me to do this.’”
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2a
The men going through the Perris U-Turn program sit in the front two rows and diligently take notes as Pastor Ken teaches.
Three Times’ the Charm
In Maine, another discipleship organization also trains men and women to conquer their addictions. Calvary Residential Discipleship’s (CRD) 12-month program has helped more than 2,000 people in its 20-year existence. Its more than 70% success rate sharply contrasts with the 45% national average of other treatment programs, partly because spiritual transformation—not merely overcoming addiction—is the program’s ultimate goal. “In Acts 20:20,” expounded CRD’s founder, Pastor Ken Graves of CC Bangor, ME, “Paul says he both taught and showed the elders how to live. Manhood must be imparted, through verbal instruction but also modeling. In our society, even when a father remains, he often doesn’t understand his role.” CRD uses intensive Bible study and hands-on work to impart instruction men have missed. “We address the heart of the issue, who God created us to be,” Ken explained. Gerry Brown had sent out one of his most-seasoned U-Turn for Christ directors to help Ken get the program off the ground.
“You know … in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility.” Acts 20:18-19
A U-Turn participant greets folks as they leave church. Gerry estimates nearly 10,000 people have graduated from the Perris men’s and women’s ranches alone. Though the road is hard, for those who endure he has seen families reunited, marriages restored, and criminals transformed into ministry leaders. “It comes from the centrality of God’s Word and being taught to apply it to their lives, turning knowledge into wisdom,” he insisted.
Travis Carey knew Ken since childhood as the “Viking-looking, deep-voiced preacher man” next door, willing to help when needed. Travis entered CRD after being discharged from the Marines at 21 due to drug issues. His first CRD attempt lasted nine months; his second, merely three days. Instead of giving up, Ken invited Travis into his home. Ken often joked about Jesus’ “Special Ed” program for Peter, James, and John, who needed extra instruction. Now Ken told Travis, “We’re opening the Special Ed program. You’re going to do what I do, go where I go.” Despite growing appreciation and admiration for Ken, soon Travis’ using, stealing, and lying landed him in county jail for attempted robbery.
“I was bombarded with a tidal wave of all the hurtful, harmful decisions I’d made over the last decade,” Travis remembered. Four days in, Ken pulled strings to visit him. Seeing “that big, fatherly smile through the plexiglass, I started weeping,” Travis continued. “Ken said, ‘Travis, I know this isn’t where you wanted your life to end up. God has a plan for you. It’s time to surrender to it. When you’ve done your time, why don’t you come back to the program and continue your spiritual training?’ It was so matter-of-fact; simple, yet profound.” That day, Travis kneeled in a shower stall, completely surrendering to God.
His third time in CRD, “I determined to stay as long as it took; to be and stay a student,” Travis declared. “I saw how the other program graduates, who had come out of addiction, and Ken, modeled their lives as a great adventure, excited to serve the Lord.
“My life before was so self-centered. The world tells you being a man is based on your sexual conquests, success, how much you can bench press. Everything in Christ, the manliest man who ever lived, is about dying to yourself and serving others. Ken shows what that looks like. He’s not just this really great preacher you see on Sunday; he lives his entire life with these men.”
Pastor Gerry and the U-Turn for Christ men pray for Ken. CRD’s 12-month program has helped more than 2,000 people in its 20-year existence. It uses intensive Bible study and hands-on work to impart instruction men have missed. “We address the heart of the issue, who God created us to be,” Ken explained.
Photographs line one of CRD’s long hallways. One side memorializes those who left the program for their addictions and died. The other side is covered in graduates’ family portraits, including Travis’. Continuing in his leaders’ Christlike examples, he now pastors CC Greater Portland, ME, a rapidly growing church plant.
“I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20
Learn more:
Calvary Residential Discipleship
U-Turn For Christ
SPONSOR MESSAGE: Learn about an all-encompassing re-entry ministry for men and women trapped in the deceptive, never-ending cycle of addiction. Visit U-Turn for Christ
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