For anyone affected by addiction, either personally or through of a loved one, there is hope. That’s the theme of the upcoming “Weekend of Hope” Conference, May 5 – 6 at Carterville Baptist Church in Petal.
The two-day conference is sponsored by Lighthouse Ministries, a faith-based rehabilitation program that helps people gain a fresh start in life. Founded by Rev. Ken and Kim Thronson in 2005, Lighthouse Ministries has operated a residential program called Life Rehab for women in crisis. The ministry will soon open a similar program for men known as The Farm.
“Over the years, we’ve become well acquainted with the addiction crisis, not just in America at large but right here in South Mississippi,” said Thronson. “But we believe there is hope through Jesus Christ and the practical application of his message of redemption. We’re holding this conference to extend that hope to people who are hurting because of addiction.”
In addition to the Thronsons, the conference will feature three other speakers. Each has faced personal crisis but has overcome it through God’s love and are now helping others find the same faith.
Bill Corum - Founder/CEO, Prison Power Ministries
“I grew up in a good home, but I started stealing around age 8,” says Bill Corum, one of the conference speakers. “It progressed from there until I found myself steeped in the Kansas City underworld and a lifestyle of drugs, illicit sex and organized crime.”
As an “enforcer” for the Kansas City mob, Corum had a brief run-in with the law. “I vowed then that I would never go back to prison and I would never get caught.” After nineteen years, however, his luck finally ran out in 1982.
“I was facing a life sentence,” says Corum. “It was then that I called out to God in the only way I knew how. He heard me and my life has never been the same.”
Miraculously saved from prison, Corum now shares his message of hope primarily with prison inmates. Over the last 35 years he’s visited over 500 prisons, often in association with other ministries.
Spencer Lindsay - Founder/Director, Working Men of Christ - Founder/President, Crossroads Restoration
One of Corum’s ministry partners is another featured conference speaker, Spencer Lindsay. Like Corum, his story also began when he was young.
“My mom died of cancer when I was 9,” said Lindsay. “I didn’t know she had died until I was brought to the funeral, something I held against my father for a long time.”
His grief and anger led him to shut down communication with his family, and he began to listen to many of his friends. This took him down a dark path that eventually led to five different stays in prison. During his last incarceration, he finally came to terms with his life.
“I had believed lies all my life. Only while in prison did I come to the truth of God’s love and forgiveness,” says Lindsay.
Today, Lindsay and his organization, Working Men of Christ Ministries, provides courses and materials for inmates, and has opened a number of “discipleship homes” for men who have recently been released from prison.
Judi Merriam - Author/Actor, Empty Shoes by The Door
The conference’s third speaker has also dealt with crisis, but in a way different from Corum and Lindsay. In 2011, one of her children took his own life at the age of 18.
“It was an excruciating time for my family and me,” said Merriam. “But with the strength I found in God’s love, I was able to rise above my grief.”
Today, besides her active involvement in the theater and the arts, Merriam also speaks regularly at churches and conferences about her experience. Her message is one of hope, encouragement and survival, in spite of life’s circumstances.
“I try to present a realistic picture, not one where all the pain goes away,” said Merriam. “Overcoming through God’s help doesn’t negate the pain of your experience altogether, but it can restore your joy and purpose in life.”
Weekend of Hope begins on Friday, May 5th at 7 p.m., and continues all day Saturday, May 6th. For more information about the conference, contact Lighthouse Ministries at (601) 544-2169.
