Hope Extended functions under the condition of confidentiality to foster transparency and accountability among those who attend its meetings. The identity of one of its members has been changed in this story to maintain their confidentiality.
Hurts, habits, and hang-ups…Pastor Jimmy Bryant has lived long enough to know we all have them.
Bryant, who leads Hope Extended, a ministry in Rosewood, overcame his own struggles with substance abuse over 40 years ago.
He now has the privilege of witnessing first-hand as Celebrate Recovery, a Christ-centered recovery program, impacts the lives of individuals who battle issues ranging from drugs, alcohol, pornography, anxiety, depression, gambling, and others.
Hope Extended also works closely with men and women who are residents of local Hope Houses which provide 12-month residency programs for individuals who have experienced addictions related to drugs, alcohol, and other obstacles while also encountering legal issues.
Bryant and Hope Extended offer a service open to the public every Thursday evening at 6:30 at 1138 Rosewood Road.
“We’re seeing people healed here,” Bryant said. “I’ve seen worship pastors and doctors come here and be restored. I’ve seen people come here and this was their last hope and they’ve been totally delivered. I’m seeing wounds being healed here.”
Perhaps Bryant’s biggest challenge is changing the perception that Celebrate Recovery is strictly for people who face drug and alcohol addiction.
“The biggest misconception of Celebrate Recovery is that it’s an addiction program but it’s not,” Bryant said. “It’s hurts, habits and hang-ups. The greater majority of people have been wounded at some point in their lives. We’ve all been wounded whether that’s in an alcoholic family, in a family that argues, maybe you were put down when you were a child, blended marriages, abuse or whatever, and that creates the hurt, the habit, and the hang-up. Unless we get it properly looked after, which most people don’t because it’s not detected in small children. So, when we grow up we hurt people that we love because hurting people hurt people. Until we start going to Celebrate Recovery or a good church, we continue to hurt people and we continue to destroy our lives, and just tear it down piece by piece. Celebrate Recovery is just God’s word and common sense. God designed us to share and to talk, and when we do that, the healing starts. We’re not an addiction center, we’re a center for broken people.”
Aside from a weekly service, Hope Extended also provides 13-week step-study classes that allow participants to dive deeper into their personal struggles and experiences from their pasts that may have contributed to their respective challenges.
Hope Extended also serves lunch two Sundays a month at the Community Soup Kitchen in Goldsboro, and the other two Sundays a month at the Fordham House. PAL (Parents of Addicted Loved Ones) also meets at Hope Extended on Thursday nights at 7.
Hope Extended also has a mobile medical unit it uses to provide free medical services to the community at events and on other occasions. The ministry also operates Adam’s Closet which provides clothes to those in need.
Hope Extended also has a Christian motorcycle group and a ladies’ ministry.
Hope Extended’s house band, NorthBound Worship, recently released its first album and performed at the Fremont Daffodil Festival. Hope Extended will also be present at the North Carolina Pickle Festival, Princeton Community Day, and NC Freedom Fest.
Hope Extended is hosting its own community day on Apr. 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will feature music by NorthBound Worship, free food, free haircuts, free clothes, inflatables, health screenings, and a ride for hope by His Calling biker’s outreach.
“Celebrate Recovery is a huge part of what we do but we also serve lunch to 60 to 100 people every Sunday at the Community Soup Kitchen or the Fordham House,” Bryant said. “Every other week we go out with our mobile medical unit and provide health screenings to people, and lead them to the Lord. It’s just crazy what God is doing here.”
Bryant’s vision for Hope Extended began almost three decades ago when he was serving as a youth pastor at Sunset Church of God in Tarboro. Bryant’s wife Jean, helped lay out his vision in a book.
Fast forward to 2017, when Hope Extended was given its current building which had previously been a church.
“Right in the middle of my eight or nine years (at Sunset Church of God in Tarboro), the Lord started dropping something in my heart,” Bryant said. “I didn’t know what to do with it. Jean put it in a book format for me. My calling is real, real simple. God told me, “Go work for my church.’ That may mean cleaning a toilet, marrying them, or burying them. My calling isn’t to give the word from the pulpit, my calling is to go work for His church, not necessarily our church. God just puts me in unique circumstances.”
Hope Extended held its first service in 2018 and 21 people attended. The ministry now attracts over 200 attendees weekly. Hope Extended is largely funded by donations from churches and private donors.
One of Hope Extended’s regular attendees “Scott,” has seen the authenticity and accountability present at Hope Extended dramatically impact his struggles and the negative consequences they had on his family.
“Hope Extended has made an incredible difference in my life and in my relationships with my wife and kids,” “Scott,” said. “I’ve been coming here a little over a year, and the friendships I’ve made here along with the step-study class have really helped me in my addiction. My relationships with my family are in a much better place. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without Hope Extended and Celebrate Recovery.”
For more information on Hope Extended visit hopeextendedministries.org.
