Dan and Deb

    This is an article that was printed in the Statesman Journal on Saturday October 13, 2007. Written by SJ journalist Hank Arends.

     “Hi. My name is Dan. I’m a grateful believer in Jesus Christ and am in recovery from meth addiction and alcoholism.”

     That is how Danial Ficek of Salem introduces himself at sessions of Celebrate Recovery.

     He credits the 12-step program with keeping him clean from his addictions for a year and a half.

     “The Lord has restored my relationships and my health,” Ficek said.

     Because of his belief in and commitment to Celebrate Recovery, he helped begin the program at Morning Star Community Church in South Salem this fall and serves as outreach coordinator.

     While all 12-step programs pride themselves on their anonymity, Ficek was willing to be identified to help spread the Celebrate Recovery message.

     He is 32 and describes an addictive lifestyle that started with drinking hard liquor at 12. He continued that until he had his first hit of methamphetamine at 29.

     “I was hooked as soon as I started it. The first day I used methamphetamine was the last day I drank. That was how powerful it was that one time.”

     He heard about Celebrate Recovery two years ago while sitting in a jail cell in Mountain Home, Idaho. He was held on a grand theft charge and was in Idaho to avoid his Oregon crimes.

     “I came back down here (to Salem from Idaho) to face my charges. I just got off probation last month.”

     After taking care of his forgery, theft and drug possession charges, he got a job as a restaurant cook. His wife Deborah is serving her own sentence at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville and is scheduled to be out in May. She is doing the Celebrate Recovery program with a volunteer who drives up from Salem.

     “What is really cool about Celebrate Recovery and sets it apart from the secular program is it combines worship time with a teaching each week,” he said.

     It was started 16 years ago at the famed Saddleback Church of Lake Valley, California, pastored by Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life.” Associate pastor John Baker developed the program to help overcome addictive behaviors in a Christian setting.

     The pastors studied the Bible and developed Scripture verses for each of the 12 Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous steps. The verses are based on the Beatitudes, “The blessed are they who…” passages.

     “We recognize the higher power as being Jesus Christ,” was how Ficek put it.

     The weekly meetings at Morning Star start with dinner, for which a $3 donation is sought. It is followed by an hour of worship and combined teaching. During a final hour, men and women go to separate smaller groups.

     Depending on demand, the “hurts, habits and hangups” groups are for alcohol and drugs, food or sexual addictions, codependency or other issues.

     In Salem, other Celebrate Recovery groups are sponsored by Bethany Baptist, First Church of the Nazarene, First Free Methodist and Grace Community churches.

     The Rev. Wayne Robbins, Morning Star associate pastor; said of Ficek, “He is a super-good guy. He knows from what he speaks and has had issues in his own life. That is why he is so involved in Celebrate Recovery.”

     Information on the program is available at www.celebraterecovery.com.