About this episode
Jan Thomas shares his journey from a challenging upbringing to becoming a leader in addiction recovery ministries.
Born at the edge of an open-pit copper mine in New Mexico, Jan Thomas comes from a background of working-class people, cultural Christians, but not committed believers. Growing up, he had influences and experiences causing doubts about himself and his ability to become more than his environment would have predicted.Influenced by teachers, Air Force buddies, and others, he began to trust God to do in him what he could not do for himself. As a youngster he thought he had no academic ability, but got BA and MDiv degrees. As a pastor he felt like a failure and began a career working in prisons. Struggling with life, he continued to try to serve.He married Fern, a widow with two children, and they had another child together. He became an administrator after only a few years; but his codependent nature, the desire to fit in, and to be liked at any cost nearly cost him his life. An old alcohol issue came back, at a time he was involved in two of the most amazing ministries of the twenty-first century, Celebrate Recovery and Kairos. Retiring in 1997, he began using CR in the prison he retired from. He was asked to help get the program into jails and prisons and became the first national…
People in this episode
Host: Quippy Quill
Guest: Jan Thomas
Topics covered
- personal growth
- faith
- overcoming struggles
- ministry
- addiction recovery
Keywords
- Jan Thomas
- Celebrate Recovery
- Kairos
- addiction
- faith
- personal story
- ministry
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Celebrate Recovery, Kairos
Places: New Mexico
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