Transcript

Jessica Peck talks with Nick Vujicic about addiction on American Family Radio

Hello and welcome to the doctor Nursemama show, prescribing Hope for healthy families here on American family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner, and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, hey there, friends, and welcome to my favorite time of day, getting to spend time with you, prescribing Hope for healthy families. And today I have back one of our favorite guests, Nick Vujicic. Nick V Ministries is joining us today. We are continuing to talk about his initiative, champions for the brokenhearted. And today we are talking about something that is very near and dear to me. We are talking about people who are struggling with addiction. And our prescription for hope today is to be a champion for those who are struggling with addiction. We know that addiction impacts more than 40 million people worldwide, yet many suffer in silence. They feel broken. They feel forgotten. And worst of all, they feel hopeless. Did you know that in the United States alone that more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2023? And here's the important thing. Addiction doesn't discriminate. We often have a mental image of what people look like who are struggling with addiction. But the truth is, it touches every community, every family, including my own, as I have shared with my listeners before. Today we are starting, we're having a really important conversation with Nick Vujicic, founder of Nick V Ministries, about the brokenhearted caught in addiction's grip and how faith offers a lifeline. And we'll talk about what does God's heart say about addiction and the cycle that traps so many? And how can faith transform despair into hope for those who are struggling with their families and with their families who have struggles with addiction? And as Nick has said, remember, you are not defined by your struggles. Jesus came for the brokenhearted, including those battling addiction. And he is offering a hope that never fails. So, Nick, thank you so much for joining us. It is always a joy to have you on the show.

>> Nick Vujicic: Thanks, Jessica, for having me back. Love being with you on the show. And, this is a really, broad topic in a sense and more common that many actually believe, within the church. And, I'm excited to do this deep dive with you and unpack this one. So thank you for having me back.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Absolutely. And before we start talking about something really serious, I'll say that for those of you watching online on video, you'll see that Nick is outside. And, Nick, we are also graced by some of your cows, which I just absolutely love. The Texas girl and me is all here for that. So thank you so much. For joining us from there. So if you're watching that visual, just enjoy a little taste of Texas here. But you know, I think about my family, Nick and I, I grew up in Texas. I, have a, I am at least a seventh generation Texan that I know of. I think it goes back further than that. But when I look back at my family tree, not only do I see deep roots in Texas, I've shared with my listeners before. When I was in nursing school getting my master's degree as a pediatric nurse practitioner, we had to create something called a genogram, which is basically a map of your family. And we look at things like cancer and heart attacks and strokes and all of those kinds of things. But being in a nursing school, a nursing model, we look at health more holistically than that. And after we had mapped those, they said, okay, now we're going to map things like mental health, anxiety, depression, and addiction. And when I started creating that little color coding for my family map, Nick, I realized that I had just stumbled across my family's open secret. That addiction was the strangling vine that wove through my family tree. And no one really talked about it, but it was definitely there. And it was pretty hard for me to take a look at that and see the ways that addiction had impacted generation to generation, generation. Because one of the things I saw as well was that there were generations, there were tree branches that were spared from physical addiction. Maybe they didn't drink at all, but they were still impacted by those family dynamics, by that generational curse or sin or trauma that was there. And I realized that we were not spared. And we were more afraid of the social stigma, of the injury, of falling from a glass pedestal, than the threat of death that was staring us right in the face. How have you encountered addiction, Nick? And why did you have such a heart to make one of the champions for the brokenhearted to be for those people struggling with addiction.

>> Nick Vujicic: Well, thank you so much for sharing so transparently to the world. I too myself, had sat down and reflected, within our family tree, and especially on my mother's side, and some of my dad's side, our cousins, the people they hang, around with. The people that I hang around with. It's very interesting. I, I, I, I do like how particular you've defined it as a strangling vine. something that at first kind of comes up and is not, it's, it's not easily detectable. It comes slowly. And, whether it's Ah, someone that starts on, you know, pot and then marijuana and then different drugs that they experiment with and end up, doing, heroin, cocaine. you know, it always starts small. It always starts with a little step, a, ah, little bit of beer, and then mixing drinks and, And a rhythm of alcoholism. you know, it's. It's. So, And I mean, you've also got the spectrum of technology as well, now for this generation as well, where there's a remapping of your brain. And I, I think whatever addiction it is, what I want to say, it starts small. it goes just in small increments, bigger and bigger and bigger. And, I, I do believe, that I don't have any stats to prove this, but I honestly believe that there's maybe 15% of the people who go to church once a week who have some kind of addiction, whether they would name it as such or not. and unfortunately, it's a mental sickness. you could definitely see that there's a chemical reaction, within our body, and something that you become dependable on. And we know that before the Lord, when we read the Bible, we need to be dependent on Him. but just because we believe in him, it doesn't mean that we don't go through ups and downs of different trials, different temptations. And as you also mentioned, the pressures of the people around you as well. And how do you deal with that in your own family, in your own home, with your brothers, your sisters, nephews, nieces, uncles? and so I've had a couple uncles that have gone through addiction, couple cousins that have gone through addiction. It's. It's not an easy thing to unpack, but definitely spiritually significant. When you also look under the microscope of, like you said, generational things, it's not just cultural, it's also sometimes spiritual as well.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: It is. It's so hard to see. And I'm so glad that you said that, Nick, because addiction is not something that, that is typical for it to happen overnight. It is a long and gritty road that just is a cycle of choices. And sometimes, sometimes those choices are presented to you.

How can we prevent addiction even before it starts? By being transparent about our pain

You know, one of the things I feel like I have an obligation to talk about as a healthcare professional is the opioid epidem epidemic that's happening in the United States. And a lot of that emerged from a movement in medicine, a few decades ago, where people had different responses to pain and where healthcare providers said, hey, we should make pain the fifth vital sign. We should make Consider pain as something that we need to treat. And they started overprescribing opioids that. And I think it was, in many cases it was well intentioned. And it comes from that medical model of, oh, you have pain, let's fix it. But so many times I've talked to so many people, Nick, who would go in and maybe they took that in good faith and then their body was addicted. So sometimes it can happen like that. But regardless of whatever it is that starts that road to addiction, the way that it starts is medicating some sort of pain that you have, whether that's physical pain, whether it's emotional pain, whether it's mental strain or pain. And a lot of times our neurotransmitters can get confused when you're talking about pain. Because when you're having emotional pain, it runs in the same pathways that makes your body have experiencing physical pain too. And so you start to self medicate. And then after a while that doesn't work anymore. And so then you've got to take more. Then you've got to take something different. Much as what you were talking about, Nick, and leading that road to other medications, because you're just seeking relief from that pain. And I think that's really the core of what we need to talk about with addiction is that so many people have pain, they don't know how to deal with it. They're just desperate for relief. And sometimes that comes through alcohol, through substances. What do you think is God's heart for that pain that we have? And how can we prevent addiction even before it starts? By being transparent about our pain and getting help in a healthy way.

>> Nick Vujicic: You know, I think most of us, including myself, I'm only 42, but especially during COVID a lot of those pressures, it brought me to, needing counseling one on one. And that, ah, one on one counseling session, ten of them, really helped me understand how wounded I was deep down. and I had depression, I had anxiety. I think when you, if anyone's listening who struggles with different addictions, whether it's, sexual addiction, pornographic addiction as well, or even the addiction in our mind of having games in our mind, of emotional affairs happening because of pressures of work or stress or family or whatever else that that pressure is, I think God's heart is to say, hey, would you just stop for a second, breathe and come to me and, and just sit with me. And, and in that stillness and in that mindset of hey, I know something's not quite Right. I can't put my finger on it, but I know that there is something not right. And whether that's a counseling process to happen or having accountability, measures put in, I think it's the awareness first to understand that it might even begin with saying, hey, I know that's wrong, but I've always done it, or I've always been surrounded by it. is this something that the Lord wants me to stop doing and inquire of the Lord? What's beautiful about the Lord's heart is that he'll never ask you to stop doing something or start doing something without the grace to do it. And sometimes it takes added measure of not just you and your prayer and, your willingness to stop as well. addictions, they're more powerful than us. most of them are anyway. I know people who could stop cold turkey in some aspects. Some people, you just can't stop. And that's when we realize, the heart of the Father is he looks at us, he loves us. And I think the biggest prevention of why we don't sit and be still with the Lord is that shame and condemnation. And I think the heart of the Father is saying, hey, come to me. I already know your addiction. I already know your pain. I don't love you any different, but I want you free from that. I think from our point of view, we don't see ourselves strangling to death. From. From God's point of view, we're handcuffed, we're in prison, where. However else you want to say it, and he's come to give freedom and love and redemption from any addiction.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: That's such a powerful message, Nick. And you said earlier that you're just guessing that 15% of people in church have some sort of addiction. And I think. I think it's got to be even higher than that. I really do. Just from my perspective, being a nurse and hearing people's confessions, hearing people's secrets, seeing people have the, having accidental overdoses or having that point of physical crisis where they come to need healthcare. And I see their shame just as you were describing. And I think that as the church, we can do so much of a better job in dealing with addiction. And addiction in particular is something that does have so much shame and stigma. And I remember one time sharing, finally having the courage to share with someone in the church about one of my family members who was struggling. And the reaction was not what I hoped for. I'll share more about that when we come back. But Listen, we have so much more to talk about with Nick Vujicic of, Nick V Ministries. And I encourage you to know more about the champions for the brokenhearted. And you can find out online by just going to nickvministries.org nickvministries.org and find out how you can equip yourself and equip your church to be a champion for the brokenhearted, including those who are struggling with addiction. We'll be right back with much more from Nick V. In just a moment. When a woman experiences an unplanned pregnancy, she often feels alone and afraid. So many times her first response is to seek out an abortion. But because of the generosity of listeners like you, that search may lead her to a preborn Network clinic. Preborn offers God's love and compassion to hurting women and then provides a free ultrasound to introduce them to the life growing inside them. This combination brings the ultimate miracle of life to life and doubles a, baby's chance at life. Which is why preborn saw over 67,000 babies rescued last year alone. Meet Maddie. Maddie was in a tough situation as she wasn't sure who the father was. But after receiving counseling, prayer, and a free ultrasound at a preborn Network clinic, everything changed. Maddie discovered she had twins and found the strength she needed to choose life. Your tax- deductible donation of $28 sponsors one ultrasound. How many babies can you save? Please donate your best gift today. Just dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound 250, baby. Or go to preborn.com/AFR, that's preborn.com/AFR.

>> How Great Thou Art (Until That Day) by Matt Redman: then sings my soul my savior, God to thee how great thou art how great thou art Then sings my soul my savior, God to me how great thou how great welcome back, friends.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: That is how great thou art (until that day) by Matt Redman

Today we're talking about those who are brokenhearted by addiction

And today we are talking about the greatness of God, even in the those who are experiencing brokenheartedness. And today we're talking with Nick Vujicic of Nick V Ministries. Go to nickvministries.org to find out more about how you can become a champion for the brokenhearted. Today, we're talking about those who are brokenhearted by addiction, whether that's you who is personally impacted, whether that is you seeing a family member, a loved one walking through the pain of that addiction. Addiction is more than a personal battle. It is often a generational trauma with deep roots in shame and isolation. But there is hope. Today you can become a champion for those struggling with addiction and, and addiction is something that can be overcome. And Nick is sharing real stories. If you go to nickvministries.org you'll see some excellent resources like a Hope for the addicted ebook, Community Support. You'll see a video interview with a man named Jason Webber who overcame drug addiction.

How can churches and families become champions for those fighting addiction

There are so many resources, and we're asking today, what does breaking free from addiction look like in the light of God's truth? And how can communities and churches and families become champions for those fighting addiction? And Nick, before the break, I was just sharing with you in my own family. I had a family member who was struggling with addiction. And I really was at a point of just crisis and not knowing what to do, how to intervene, whether to intervene, how to deal with the impacts that was having in my own life. And I remember going to someone in the church who I really respected and trusted and someone who had been a mentor to me and, and told them what was happening. And I remember looking at me and thinking very carefully and saying, maybe that's not something that you should share here. And just walking away and feeling like I had done something wrong by reaching out for help. And that sticks with me so much. But I think that it was just. There's so many people who want to help, but they don't know what to do. They're not equipped to respond. Addiction is something that's really scary. It can be life threatening. There can be issues of abuse that come with that, with child endangerment, and it can be a scary thing. How do you see your vision, Nick, in equipping the church to do better, in responding to people who are struggling sitting in the pews every Sunday morning?

>> Nick Vujicic: I think it's. It's really a question that is in my mind, how do we have the church start talking about some different things? I know I've been discouraged by the lack of willingness of church leaders to talk about what they would call as a taboo topic. and, you know, we can talk about human trafficking because we feel like human trafficking is a distant thing as much as sexual addiction, pornographic addiction, or substance addiction. I think during COVID a lot of us started drinking a little bit more than we used to. Ah, we're at home or people becoming addicted to food or just different things, but addiction itself. we know that we need to become addicted to him. And it's a daily renewal of our mind, and him building us up to being who he wants us to be. And, you know, I just think, especially for the young people I'm really sad and broken for the young people. There is not a lot of accountability in church leadership. And we're seeing what's happening. I know as a minister of the gospel, I have my accountability system with my board. We call it a soul care. and we make sure that Nick is doing good. he's not hiding anything. I, as I say in my words, we take off the kimono and I have the trusted people. That, that, that is a healthy thing where if there is needing any correction, it's addressed, it's corrected, it's witnessed, and we're done. Nick's not perfect. But to have some of these faith leaders caught up in some terrible bounds and curses and secrets on secrets. I think one of the greatest reasons why people are not coming Jesus Christ, is the lack of people being real. And I think this next generation really needs someone real to follow as far as, leaders, youth group leaders saying it how it is, and not wasting our time twiddling our thumbs to gather for the sake of gathering. But let's talk about these things because out of all the, the, the people in the world, we have the Bible, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, to counsel us, to heal us. It's not tactful. It's. It's the spiritual, emotional healing that we can have only by the blood of Jesus Christ, that really is redeeming us. and so I, I think with everyone as well, having so much access to technology and peer pressing and, and peer pressure and bullying, that whole cultural effect of then who am I? What defines me? I think I'm really more broken, more than anything for these young people that don't have a lot of role models, and they're not talking about at church. Let's do a Bible study about purity again. Let's do a Bible study about what is it Addiction, in alcoholism. Compared to moderation, what does it look like when it becomes a God to you? That's what addiction really boils down to. Something that you can't stop doing that becomes basically, a mode of worship and dependency that really should not be there. That's unhealthy.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I share your brokenheartedness for young people. And it is, it breaks all of our hearts when we see church leaders who struggle with addiction. I think you're onto something here, Nick, about the secrecy that is involved in that. And you know, one of the things that has really been convicting me of late, it is so, honestly, it's so disheartening. How I'm sure that people who go to church will relate to this. You go to a church, whether it's a Sunday school group, a life group, a, Wednesday night prayer service, whatever it is, and you gather in small groups to pray, and people start giving their prayer requests. And Nick, I'm not discounting these, because these things need to be prayed for. But they start saying, you know, pray for my grandma's knee. Like, pray for, you know, so and so who has an infected toe or so one's. It's usually someone else who has a physical health need. And that is by far the most of the prayer requests that I've seen. I very rarely see confession in those things, saying, hey, I'm struggling with addiction to whatever it is. Like you said, it may not be substances. And in the church, it seems like there's some things that are socially acceptable to confess to say, you know, oh, I'm really struggling with working too much. You know, I'm. I'm not home with my family. But, you know, my business is doing so well. And we kind of like, we shroud gossip and prayer requests. We kind of shroud our success. Like, okay, I'm going to kind of sort of have some semi transparency here. But if somebody does say I'm struggling with something, then immediately there's just this kind of silence, like, oh, oh, okay, well, we'll definitely pray for you. But I feel like there's just not a culture in the church where we're equipped to respond to that, even though we know it's one of the ways that we're broken as humans. And so.

Nick says there's a lack of one on one counseling in Christian churches

So talk some more to me, Nick, about what you're seeing in that and what you hope that champions for the brokenhearted will change in that culture.

>> Nick Vujicic: You know, I had a teenager come up to me, I think it was three months ago. And she pulled me aside and she said, most of my friends at school are pornographically addicted. And, half of them come to my church. How do I reach my pornographically addicted Christian friends? I said, well, first and fore. Yeah, I said, and she was 15, 14 maybe. And she's broken for her friends. And no one's talking about it. And so, number one, talk about it, be aware of it. You can't just put, this is the problem, right? Like, we're looking at a consumerism mentality at the church instead of discipleship growth. Discipleship growth also means not just growing in knowledge, understanding of God's will for your life and having knowledge of the word of God to To equip you through ups and downs. But it's also to be free. Indeed. And I feel like we're not really free. Indeed. I think that we play church as almost like an accessory, a part of our traditional weekly rhythm of life. what about outside the church walls? And so, I think one on one counseling, I think we've mentioned this again and again as we've gone through Champions for the brokenhearted series. A lack of one on one counseling. And that's why champions for the caregiver training, if you will, has helped us see potentially a glimmer of hope for people that realize, hey, we shouldn't just put people who are coming to church on a weekly basis in what we call a small group. But to actually mention, hey, if anyone has a struggle with this, come on Thursday night there's going to be a focus group on this. or even you know, whether it was the PTSD from an abortion. Like it's just these things that we are not really talking about. And we want to equip the church. You know, we, we at nickvministries.org we want to be a parachurch ministry but we don't want to do anything outside the church walls. We, we, it should be within the church that we should be the hands and feet. We should love each other. We should be able to look at each other in the eye and confess our nastiest sins, not be judged. believe. Then what is the course of correction? What does repentance look like? What does accountability look like? What needs to be confessed? What needs to be stated, what bridges need to be built, what bridges that are burnt, that need to be. And it, and this is heavy. No one likes this part of church. You know, my dad was a pastor. Pastor. He planted three churches in his lifetime. No one likes this part of being a pastor. but that's what we should be burdened with. It's the spiritual well being of the flock. And that in itself is when someone needs a glass of water, great, we'll get him a glass of water. But when someone's been sexually abused, when someone's an alcoholic, when someone's drug addicted, when someone, and you just see their isolation, you know they're just covering up something you should inquire because you love them. And I think it's that bridge of compassion, Jessica, that we need to be pricked in our hearts again. Sensitivity in our hearts that God help us to see your children as you see them. and I think that's that's where we really. Are we all in? Are we okay to be vulnerable? Are we okay to make now some changes in our church and pulpit meetings where, hey, let's make a safe space. I think the lack of trust is out there as well. And to do all that we can to bring in that trustworthiness and that reputation of gossip not being spread as well. I think there's just so many layers to this that we could talk for six hours and still, understand there's a lot more in the complexities of where the church should really be standing in the gap and, and the approaches and the dimensions and, and all the angles that really we need to be talking about.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I could not agree more. And in thinking about the different kinds of addiction in young people and not so young people, but even in young people today, looking at it, you can be addicted to so many things. We're not just talking about drugs. Like, although people can be addicted to marijuana, to prescription pain medications, to heroin, those kinds of things, and alcohol. But I see so many kids today who are just desperate for connection. And they're addicted to their gaming system, they're addicted to food, they're addicted to scrolling through their phone. I mean, for hours and hours and hours, they cannot pry their thumbs or their eyes away from their screen. They're addicted to pornography, as you've mentioned several times, Nick, and I cannot put an exclamation point on that enough. I say, see, so many kids who are addicted to pornographic material online, they may be addicted to social media engagement, the dopamine hits that they get when they post something and somebody engages with them and likes that, and they may be addicted to self harm. And you know, I think about a girl that I interviewed and, she shared her story publicly and actually written about it. Her name is Brittany Tinsley. She's been on the show before and she talked about how she struggled with, with addiction to self harming. Now, she grew up in a family where she had very limited exposure online. She had not seen this anywhere else. She thought she hadn't invented it. And it was just a way for her to deal with pain of some trauma that she had experienced. And she finally got the courage to disclose it to her youth group. And they didn't know what to do, Nick. They did not know how to respond. And finally, after some conferring back and forth between the youth group staff and the youth minister and the pastor, they came back and basically said, okay, you've confessed this sin so you can come to church, but you can't come to youth group now. And if, and we'll put you up an accountability system to not, to have this sin anymore and you can work your way back into the youth group. That is not okay. And what I feel like, Nick, is that as churches, if we know we are inviting broken people in and we know that they could make a confession that they could disclose some of this struggle, some them of, of the sin that they're having, we have an obligation to make sure that we are well prepared to respond. Because then what you see is people who disclose that trauma that they've experienced. You see that the church didn't handle it well. And now we've got a story of church hurt. Now they're going to say, okay, I'm going to reject that. And of course there's some accountability in that. But we're already up on our next break. Nick, when we come back, I really want to get your response to that and hear more about how your ministry is equipping churches. One of the things that really captured my heart is that this curriculum is so good and we have such a need for response and mental health systems and mental health services that is just going to exceed what we are seeing, what we are capable of giving from a healthcare system. We can equip the church to respond. And we will have Eric Scalise, a ah, professional who helped contribute to that curriculum. We're going to have him on an upcoming show. And Nick, when we come back, we'll talk more about champions for the brokenhearted and hope and help for those who are addicted. Please, I'm asking you. Go to nickvministries.org that's nickvministries.org you can see all about all of the populations that we. You can listen to past shows and you can see how you can be equipped, your church can be equipped to be a champion for the brokenhearted. We'll be right back with Nick Vujicic on the other side of this break.

>> Buddy Smith: We live in a day when America's families are under attack like never before. Buddy Smith, senior vice president of the American Family Association. The war against biblical principles rages on numerous fronts. The Internet, Hollywood, Washington, D.C. america's corporate boardrooms, and the list goes on. At American Family Association. We're committed to standing against the enemies of God, the enemies of your family. And we recognize it's an impossible task without God's favor and your partnership. Thank you for being faithful to pray for this ministry, to give financially and to respond to our calls for activism. What you do on the home front is crucial to what we do on the battlefront. We praise God for your faithfulness, and may he give us many victories in the battles ahead as we work together to restore our nation's biblical foundations.

>> Somebody Prayed by Crowder: Every night there by your bed, you fold your hands and bow your head, throwing out another prayer in faith. When you're wondering if he's hearing you, look at me. I'm, living proof. I'm only right where I am today. Because somebody prayed

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is somebody prayed by Crowder. And today we are praying for those who are brokenhearted and specifically those who are brokenhearted by addiction. We're talking with Nick Voyage of Nick V Ministries. Go to nickvministries.org to find out more about being a champion for the brokenhearted. And Nick has had such an impact. He has reached over 812 million people with a with the mission to reach a billion more by 2029, How can you be a champion for the brokenhearted? We're talking today about Nick's ministry and how it is equipping people and churches to respond. And Nick, before the break, I just. I had a lot to say. I feel really passionate about this, about the church being obligated to respond. If we are inviting them and presenting. If the church is presenting itself as a hospital for the wounded and yet they're not equipped to help. Help heal, I think we have to take some accountability in that. What do you think?

>> Nick Vujicic: A million percent. So, first and foremost, if there is any church leader who are like, well, I'd like to do something more. Go to nickvministries.org Number one, check out the messages that I've given to the addicted, the interviews that we've had with experts in this field, and then my charge to the church to. To really wake up and realize we're going to be accountable for this. We really will be. it's not about, did you tell them that I loved them? Did you love on them? That that's the difference. How much do we really love these brokenhearted people? And it takes. It takes love to be able to connect with someone, someone to then, you know, and time to have them have that ability to talk to you. I think there's some of us that actually don't realize that there's about maybe 3% of the people that come to our church that's retired and they're praying to the Lord, God, how can you use me today? This certification of champions training is a one on one counseling training module that can certify them, within your church as a lay counselor. And I think what's beautiful is that bridging of generational things where, yes, it's wonderful to imagine that a youth pastor is going to help a younger person. But I also feel like there's just this untapped, trustworthy, space in the church, of. Of older brothers, and sisters who are looking for a mission to sow into, you know, the next generation. And I feel like if we can create this community. It's not creating a community, it's just engaging who God's given you. It's not all on your shoulders as the pastoral leader, but we do do. We're out. We're accountable to the Lord, to make sure that we do have something in case someone is going through something when you do have that to mention it. I think over the last five years, there's been a lot of pastors that I saw that had no spine. I thought they had one. They don't have any spines. And so for those of you who have ears who now are hearing this, please even talk to your youth pastor if you don't believe any of this. Seriously, if you're not afraid, I tell you this, get your youth pastor to do an anonymous survey from the stage. Get everyone to bow their head, close their eyes, and put their hand up. And ask the whole crowd, with every head bound, every eye closed, the hand is up. Put your hands in a fist. If you think that you're struggling with addiction, I reckon 20% of the young people would close their hand. And you can see that. And then open your hand, put your hand in the fist. If it's a sexual addiction or substance addiction, the problem is that 99% of you won't do this because then, you know, you need to do something about it. Well, you need to do something about it anyway. It's just, will you put your head in the sand or not? And I. Sorry to feel so strong, but this is the strong heart of the Father. There are people drowning, and they need a savior. And it's not just coming to a church. It's about meeting Jesus and being free. Indeed. Which is a, A, a deeper level and commitment, as a faith leader, to make sure that your church can serve the brokenhearted. Because the bottom line is this, Jessica. If my church can't serve the brokenhearted, I'm not going.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I mean, you're absolutely right. And I, I just want to say preach with everything that I have within me, because I see people in crisis, and they don't have. Have that safe space to land in the church. And, you know, it reminds me what you were describing. Something very similar happened to my own kids. I've got four kids. They're all young, adult, teenager age. But they were in a service for their school, and there were probably, I don't know, I want to say maybe four or five hundred kids in this. In this service. And they had a speaker there, and he just passed each one of them a slip of paper and said, are you struggling? What are you struggling with? And they would write down on that paper that they struggled with, and then they collected. No names on it or anything. They collected all of those pieces of paper, and then they redistributed them. They just said. They passed down a bucket and said, pull out this piece of paper. And then they said, okay, you are now going to represent your fellow peer in school here. And how many of you are struggling with addiction? And if it said addiction on their paper, they would stand up. And that made such an impression on my kids, Nick, because they stood up on behalf of their peers, and they recognized with how many people. How many kids. Kids stood up with the freedom of anonymity to say, yeah, I'm struggling. It really made a big impression on them. And for me, Nick, I feel like I'm having this epiphany thinking of myself as a pediatric nurse practitioner. I provide primary care. And imagine what kind of world that would be if I open my clinic and I say, yeah, hey, I'm here to take care of your kids. And they come in and they have an ear infection. I say, oh, yes, okay, room two. We'll take care of them. That.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: But they say, I'm struggling with addiction. And I say, oh, well, we don't take care of that here, but thanks for stopping in. I mean, I. I can't be all things to all people, but I'm constantly learning about new health threats and finding out what connections can I have, what resources can I have and building that out. And our churches need to be the same way. And I'm so grateful, Nick, for your. Your. For your. The ways that you are literally equipping the church to be able to respond. We've got to be able to do that.

nickvministries.org is a great resource for helping addicts

And so I want you to tell our listeners specifically what they can do if they think my heart is burning within me. Okay, I get it. I want to know more. What is their first step that they would take?

>> Nick Vujicic: Yep. So first and foremost, go to nickvministries.org check it out. There's the champions, training where, where you have a general course that's self directed. and then you can get into the niche or specifics of the addiction unit. and it's, it normally takes if you do one video a week, about six, seven videos. where there is Eric Scalise and Haley and videos of me as well to, to go through the training of what it looks like to be, be a one on one counselor and how to listen and how to look at that person and within the power of the Holy Spirit, knowing what to say when, how and when not. and I, I feel that, that there are other resources that you might actually go to the website as well and, and be encouraged but maybe prayerfully consider who you can share that website with with. the videos, the encouraging messages. There's a lot of free resources as well out there and we've chosen some of that on our bookshelf there at nickvministries.org and we just want you to be more well well aware of it, go deeper in it and maybe you'll be encouraged, maybe your friends would be encouraged, maybe you'd be inspired to, to kind of have like. I think what we'll be doing next year as well is starting a four week Bible study based on each. Now, just to have people kind of choose that.

Nick: I challenge you to pray about bringing this up in your church

I, I just challenge you to, to pray about bringing this up in your church, in your local church. and, and seeing what is out there. and, and and seeing what really you could do different as a church. I think we need to really have a an honest look, an inventory check on this. and, and unfortunately we don't until someone very close to us overdoses, until someone goes into a DUI car wreck. unfortunately, you know there's that way. Or you could look at it the other way and say God help me to be proactively engaging Kingdomnomics Impact today in my church. To be your hands and feet. Feet to be the listening ear and encourage someone to know that you're not defined by your addiction. You can overcome this and it's okay if you need to go through a rehab, Jessica, go through a rehab. There is nothing wrong with admitting that you need to go to a rehab. so whatever that is for you, or your friend or your family, your loved ones, there is hope in the name of the Lord. And I'm going to leave you with this. I don't know how Many minutes we got. But I just ran into someone in Houston whose mother I was encouraging her daughter several years ago, she was about to go to a rehab and I, I found out not only did she do the 12 month rehab and clean, clean, clean, of her addiction, I also prophesied over her, her that I feel like God's going to provide her, her husband soon. And believe it or not, I ran into her mother while her daughter was on a honeymoon with her husband. And she met him at the rehab. He was a rehab staff member. and so, you know, there's always hope in the name of the Lord. you can't heal yourself. You can't overcome it. But you can by the power of God and the family of God. and that's why we're here. You can overcome it. You will overcome it. And you will be healed in Jesus name.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Nick, I can't even hardly speak. I just, I have goosebumps and, and tears in my eyes because that is the message that people need to hear. When you're in addiction, it can seem so hopeless and so dark. And I remember my own. I, had a family member who was needing to go to rehab, finally willing to go to rehab. And I remember the conversation being, but what if people know? And I remember thinking, but what if they die? Like they're literally at the risk of death here. There is a real risk there. Who cares? What do people know? What do people know? The redemptive power, the redemption story that they have. And I've seen people who have overcome addiction, who have had such a, such freedom in sharing their story and saying, yes, this is a part of my struggle, but it doesn't define who I am. God is bigger than that. And Nick, I'm so appreciative. And as we close our conversation together, I want to echo what Nick said. Remember? I, Even though addiction is a very painful struggle that can leave you brokenhearted, it doesn't have to be your final chapter. And Nick, your story, your ministry, and the lives of countless champions for the brokenhearted remind us, and you've reminded us so well, that healing begins with hope. And that is the hope that is provided to us in Jesus Christ. A hope that does not disappoint. And listen, as a church, as a family member who is struggling, as a person who's struggling, you don't have to have all of the answers. Sometimes the greatest ministry is just saying, I'm here, and starting to offer love and support to those who are hurting. So whether you're personally struggling whether you know someone who is. Reach out because resources that are provided to you and Nick V. Ministries are really, really helpful. Nick, one more time, I'd love for you to give a call where to find you, where to find out more.

>> Nick Vujicic: Yeah, go to nickvministries.org and we also have a daily devotional that you can, check it out on Nick devo.org if you want to hear from me on a daily basis. We have videos throughout the year. but, yeah, go check out the champions section at nickvministries.org we're celebrating our 20th anniversary, this year. And, we're excited, ah, to just do what we can to be the hands and feet of Christ and equipping the church to be the church.

Nick Vujicic is raising up champions for the brokenhearted

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Nick, I have mentioned it several times before, but I'm so grateful to have been at the summit that you had in person in Dallas and being there and seeing the heart, your heart, seeing the heart of your team, seeing the vision that God has given you to raise up champions for the brokenhearted. I just remain convicted to my core that God is at work in this. And I just pray that those who are listening that you will go back and take a listen to any of the series that Nick and I have been working on this year talking about just really powerful conversations about God's heart for the addicted, for the disabled, for the widowed, for the orphans, for all of the. There are 12 groups there that are, that God has given Nick a vision to minister to. Please go to nickvministries.org Talk to your pastor, talk to your church staff, see and pray what God would have you. You do. As Nick said, maybe you're retired. Maybe you're someone in a different stage of life who has time, who's looking for something this might be. That's something that God could equip you to do a mighty work, to be a champion for the brokenhearted. We'll be back again with more from Nick V. Nick Vujicic. Thank you so much for listening in. And wherever you are, in whatever way your heart may be broken, I pray the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you. And I'll see you right here next time.

>> Jeff Chamblee: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.