Addiction, imprisoned, suffering from problems that govern life – most men who come to the better way, desperate for new beginnings, struck the bottom of the rock.
“It’s a faith-based program,” founder John Burrow said, “700 Clubs.” “It’s very strict… Going up to 4:45, you have a haircut where you need to button up the class, dedication, your shirt buttons.”
Barrow believes that the key to program success is structure, rigor and, most importantly, Christian faith. Men take part in biblical studies and church conferences designed to induce genuine mental transformation.
“We will try to make them come to the place where I have been saved, and from there become true disciples of Jesus Christ,” Barrow said.
The 18-month housing program for a better way is carrying these men from breaking to healing. Barrow says it came from his own struggle with drugs and alcohol.
“You miss the drugs and alcohol, and the lifestyle and the money to keep it going. … When you can’t get it, you go and get it,” he said. “So it ended up stealing this, keeping the party moving, and… stealing it to keep the medicine in my bloodstream.”
After being imprisoned at least dozens of times, Barrow finds Jesus after a mission to solitary confinement.
“I literally had 30 days to read the Bible,” he said. “It was the only book I had and I’m just starting to read it… from Genesis (to) Revelation, and again, Moses, David, Peter and James have all become my heroes.
For the next 18 months he served God behind the bar. After his release, Barrow began business and in 2005 he created a better way to help men find freedom and thrive.
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“Many victories – just staying clean and calm, wife, children, marriage,” Barrow said of what this positive outcome would look like.
“700 Club” sat with some more recent alumni, including James.
“It was just kind of guided…something else, and ultimately… there was prison and prison time,” James said.
He tried other programs with little success. James believes here in the Christian elements in a better way and in helping him succeed.
“I’ll wake up at 4:45am and bring me back to the Lord, my dedication,” he said. “And getting that foundation back and relationship with him is something that really got me.”
James believes he will one day be working as a missionary, but others like Kevin have expressed gratitude for their change in their hearts.
“I’m pleased that someone has reached the point of my life where I can be proud of me,” Kevin said.
His achievements follow the fight against drugs and a lifestyle that left him alone and isolated.
“No one wanted to be around me,” Kevin said.
Now he feels like a completely different person and believes in faith and better ways to guide him.
“This place is amazing,” he said. “It’s a lot of structure. From folding the boxer to making sure your clothes are organized, to being respectful, to talking when they’re spoken, that is, it’s just a change of life for the better.”
Such stories have attracted the attention of people like Mark Fincanon, Hollywood’s casting director.
“John Burrow, the founder of the department, was what changed my life to be friends with him,” Fincanon said. “And I realized that it was his commitment… His commitment… to read the Bible, “I’ll make you a male fisherman.” He’s been doing it ever since. ”
Barrow wants to build this legacy. He encourages men to pursue change no matter how they fall.
“I just want to keep going through that baton and carry that torch,” Burrow said. “I want you to keep that torch and keep running that race and keep running that race to help a man who is struggling with problems that dominate his life.”
In a better way, over the past 20 years, 3,000 men have joined the program, and plans to continue to change their lives in the future.
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