CUMMING, GA – There is a reason why many of us have a difficult time empathizing with friends who are in bondage to addiction. This is especially true when we see them continually making bad decisions.

An Addict’s Perspective

Edward Bailey of No Longer Bound explains that addicts do not make decisions three-dimensionally. People make about 50 to 100 decisions each day. Whether consciously or subconsciously, we tend to reason based on recollected past outcomes and potential future consequences to arrive at a viable response to our current situation. Addicts tend to think one-dimensionally, that is, making decisions based only upon how to deal with their pain at that moment.

Bailey knows what he is talking about. He was once an addict. Today, he is the executive director of No Longer Bound, a 12-month long, residential, regeneration process to rescue addicts, regenerate men, and reconcile families.

He and his staff also believe a regeneration process is absolutely necessary for lasting freedom from addiction. The No Longer Bound ministry is dedicated to resolving wounded relationships, repairing broken belief systems, and building lasting intimacy with God, self, and others.

Ministry Twice as Effective

A 2019 report noted that the regeneration process at No Longer Bound is twice as effective as traditional rehab programs.

The ministry believes that a person can only reap what they sow. That is true for everyone, but it is especially obvious in the ruined lives of those enslaved in the bondage of addiction. Therefore, No Longer Bound does not attempt to introduce addicts to a lifestyle change. They light the path to a life-source change that is available only in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

Time Is Essential

Time is a necessary component of the process of sowing and reaping. Time must pass between sowing the seed and the day when the fruit of the seed is ready for harvest.

Time is also necessary for the process of regeneration and restoration to have a lasting effect.

The regeneration process at No Longer Bound lasts for an entire year. Many traditional rehab programs last 30 to 60 days – in some cases, 90. The reason for the shorter time frame is primarily the duration of insurance coverage. The actual average stay for persons in residential rehab facilities is less than 30 days.

No Longer Bound realizes that time is not the secret, but it is essential to success.

“Time doesn’t do anything in and of itself. If you go to stay a year in a chicken house, you don’t come out a chicken. But time is a beautiful thing when you do the right thing with that time.”

Twelve months give the residents in the program …

• Time to build lasting relationships.
• Time to practice recovery in a safe setting.
• Time to prepare to re-enter the workforce.

Participative Funding

Once a resident’s insurance coverage reaches its limit, the resident is responsible for paying one-third of the cost of the program. Donors underwrite the remaining two-thirds. However, the No Longer Bound regeneration process also involves an on-campus work program, the wages of which enable residents to pay their portion of the costs while they build a credible work record to present to potential future employers.

Resident Testimonies

“During my time at NLB, I found my true identity in Christ.”

“God saved my life when I arrived at No Longer Bound in 2001. Today, I am a licensed minister serving full-time as a local church Student Outreach Coordinator.”

“I, like many other addicts, had the uncanny ability to deceive myself into thinking that I was in control of the train wreck I called my life. I had been suffering by my own hand for 10 years. Drugs and alcohol ruled me. I saw no possible way out. From the beginning, No Longer Bound provided me with hope for something better. They addressed the root of the problem while working with me to restore what really mattered, my family. I began to realize that my life was not in my own hands. That God was real and that He was at work within me. That hope grew into a lasting peace that I still carry with me today.”

“God turned my pain and brokenness into something words can’t describe. I came to believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is my personal savior and teaches me about my relationship with my father in heaven, who is the only one that could take that pain away from me.”

Those are just a few of the stories that prove that, when residents leave the program, they are No Longer Bound.

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