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Fourth Quarter Message

 

Message from Steve Ward

Thank you for checking out this message, and that shows you care about preventing addiction and helping people improve their lives and grow closer to God. 

Tens of thousands of people in Birmingham—tens of millions across the country—are being impacted by addiction and other compulsive habits such as anxiety or depression. Almost everyone I meet is affected personally or is close to someone who is.    

There are ways to lessen the risk, but of those moving toward addiction, 90% will not get help!

STEPS Ministries is dedicated to helping address that tragic problem. We enable people to avoid or lessen the impact of addiction and help those around them who are suffering. We deliver tools, content, training, and coaching to improve people’s lives emotionally, personally, and spiritually. We are relationally authentic to share God’s grace with those becoming trapped by addiction.

But to make the impact on people’s lives that is so desperately called for, we need your help now.

STEPS Ministries has 2 sets of fourth-quarter fundraising goals:

  • 5 people to provide one-time gifts during fourth-quarter:
    • $2500: Sponsor multiple in-person seminars for churches or organizations.
    • $5000: Develop content, tools, and curriculum for parents or businesses.
    • $10,000: Reach hundreds or potentially thousands with digital marketing. 
    • $20,000: Provide a Matching Gift for our fourth-quarter fundraising campaign.
  • 20 people to give ongoing monthly gifts from $25 to $250 to solidify our foundation.
    • 7 people to give $25/month
    • 5 people to give $50/month
    • 5 people to give $100/month
    • 3 people to give $250/month

Research, experience, and conversations with many people have confirmed the opportunity to help prevent addiction, and almost no one else does that now. Catherine and I are where we are supposed to be, and every day is an adventure as we develop and grow the ministry to reach more people. But we need your help! Thank you for your prayers and support. God bless.    

Steve C. Ward

Executive Director, STEPS Ministries

Email: stevecward@lifeimprovementsteps.com 

 

Top 10 Reasons to Support STEPS Ministries

  1. Support of STEPS Ministries will help save and improve people’s lives and prevent addiction. This may benefit you, someone you know, or other people in the community. Those positively impacted will be able to serve as an example and help other people, creating ripple effects that can benefit many others for years or even generations to come.
  2. STEPS Ministries will help people prevent addictions before their lives are destroyed. There are almost no organizations that focus primarily on prevention now since most concentrate on treatment and recovery afterwards. The ministry will provide practical how-to help—specific to addiction—that is not found elsewhere.
  3. Steve Ward battled alcoholism, and members of his family struggled with addiction as well. They came through those dark times with renewed faith and hope and armed with useful lifestyle tools from the world of recovery. These experiences led Steve to retire from business and move into full-time ministry by founding the nonprofit STEPS Ministries.
  4. Addiction is a deadly disease that wrecks the lives of those stricken and the people closest to them. Those affected lose their happiness and self-worth and often go on to destroy their families, relationships, jobs, and health. Their loved ones are drawn into a dark world of fear, anger, and insanity that can damage them for the rest of their lives.
  5. Envision your 100 best friends and closest family. Based on statistics, 1 in 7 of them will have a problem with alcohol or drug abuse in their lifetime. Left alone, 90% will never get help.
  6. The risks facing youth today from drugs, alcohol, and emotional issues are affecting millions of families. 75% of high school students have used addictive substances, and 90% of people with addiction started using before the age of 18. Few parents have had training on how to deal with those problems, and they desperately need education and support.
  7. The vision for STEPS Ministries is for all people to find hope, healing, and help and avoid the tragedy of addiction. The ministry will be relationally vulnerable and share God’s grace with transparency and acceptance rather than shame and judgment to help prevent addiction.
  8. The ministry will reach out to appeal to people wherever they are on their spiritual journey in order to help the most people deal with addiction, and it will be a Christian-based ministry that is anchored in and which delivers solid Biblical principles and teachings.
  9. The ministry will focus on a highly-leveraged strategy. We can impact the next generation as we enable parents to protect their kids from addiction. We can reach the most important and under-utilized mission field in the world by helping business leaders use their companies as a platform to serve their employees. And we can have unlimited reach anywhere and anytime by delivering useful and effective content and training over the internet.
  10. There are many types of people we can help who have problems such as these: Jeff has an alcohol problem but is in denial even though it is hurting his family. Susan is VP of Sales and faces a great deal of stress, and her use of pills has become a habit. Eric’s high school football injury got him started on pain pills, and those led to heroin. Eric’s parents were shocked that the problem had gotten that bad and are desperate to know how they can help. Donna is in the 9th grade and experiments with alcohol and drugs because her friends like to party. Her parents respond with anger and threats, which make her desire to rebel grow stronger. Bill is in recovery and wants to find good information about preventing addiction he can share with others, but he is overwhelmed by the clutter of conflicting information out there.

 

STEPS Stories – Testimonials and Endorsements

Testimonials from parents …

“Great understanding of the pressures my child may be facing, how he may seek relief from pain, and how I can be aware and come alongside if destructive behaviors take over. This seminar was the best investment of time I have made recently, and I can recommend this session to others without hesitation.”

“This is the beginning of the spread of a powerful, wonderful message, not just for folks in the middle of addiction but even for the parent who does not fear this for their child. Everyone will walk away with a new insight and new tools for relating to their children in healthier ways.”

“We came wanting to help our child but quickly realized we needed help as well. Our lives needed to change so we could, in turn, help our child. Thank you.”

“Excellent specific material. Loved the focus on the positives and how to build the life we want. Loved the willingness to share your heart–was touched by your tears. Loved the honesty, and the material that showed the value of the difficult journey and how God brings gifts to us even there!”

“This seminar touches on all aspects of parenting and living life to the fullest as a family. The wisdom and insight encourages parents to study their children and develop and execute a plan!”

“This seminar provided practical ways to develop a plan for guiding our children. I was encouraged to embrace my calling as a parent, while also feeling freed from perfection. This gives me increased excitement as I move forward and watch for the ways God is at move in our family.”

Endorsements from pastors …

“As Senior Pastor at Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church, I would like to wholeheartedly and enthusiastically recommend Steve Ward and STEPS Ministries to you. We have personally seen the positive impact Steve’s content and teaching brings to people, and we are expanding our partnership with STEPS Ministries moving forward. Our church and staff firmly believe in and strongly support STEPS Ministries, and we applaud Steve’s efforts to help people improve their lives, grow closer to God, and prevent addiction.” (Bob Flayhart, Senior Pastor, Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church)

“Perimeter Church is rooting for and in support of Steve Ward and STEPS Ministries. Steve’s significant business experience and personal skills make him very valuable for a ministry environment. He has all the characteristics to lead an organization well, teach effectively, and work with others in a vulnerable manner to help them take positive steps forward. Steve cares deeply about people in need and is committed to serving others. We strongly believe that STEPS Ministries will be a huge success!” (Rev. Kipper Tabb, Area Pastor and Celebrate Recovery Pastor, Perimeter Church)

 “Our church has experienced first-hand the value of Steve’s ministry. We are 100% behind him – God has uniquely gifted Steve and uniquely qualified him through his own very painful journey. Steve cares deeply about people in need and has a strong commitment to serving others in the community. We look forward to continued partnership with him in his new ministry!” (Tom Patton, Missions Pastor, Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church)

Endorsements from the book …

“Steve Ward has written a book that can change lives. Based on his own soul-wrenching experiences, he gives practical advice that can help individuals and families not only survive, but thrive, through tough times. As a senior business executive, I have seen the difference in people who can demonstrate resilience in challenging circumstances. Ward’s book will make you a more resilient person and help you achieve your highest potential.” (Brad Rex, Former Leader of Disney’s Epcot Theme Park)

“I have the privilege of contributing to the transformation of world class business, community, and spiritual leaders, and Steve Ward brings his own passion for transformation to all those areas. He wants to make a difference and has the insight, dedication, and proven methodology to do so. Steve brings forth a new voice and an exciting message to convey practical, yet powerful, concepts that could transform your life.” (Steven S. French, President, Lifework Leadership, Inc.)

“Life is tough and no one is exempt. Sometimes the hardest part of finding our way through tough times is knowing where to get help. Out of the crucible of his own family’s tough circumstances, Steve Ward has helped chart a path for recovery by drawing on his own experiences as laid out in STEPS.” (Larry Kreider, President & CEO, The Gathering)

“I have known Steve Ward for over 15 years and two words characterize him perfectly: Honesty and Focus. As a teacher, father, friend, and businessman, Steve gives you Steve, warts and all, and all the while he’s focused on being the man God wants him to be.” (Troy Schmidt, Pastor, Author, and Producer of “The American Bible Challenge”)

Recent stories (names changed to remain anonymous):

Paul is an alcoholic in recovery and a businessman. He strongly believes in recovery and the vision of moving upstream to work on prevention. But he is scared about his kids, wondering about their future well-being because of the heredity and disease components of addiction. Therefore, he is very excited about a parenting approach that could help protect his kids from addiction.

John has a son who is likely an alcoholic or on the road to be one, but remains highly-functioning with an executive business position. He knows he needs to stop drinking, but he has been unsuccessful so far, partly because he thinks, “I can do this by myself just through willpower.” But, with the right material from STEPS and some coaching, perhaps his son can better understand what it takes to avoid a crash.

Andy is in recovery with a successful career. He is excited about what recovery did for his life and wants to help come up with ways to get that knowledge to people earlier in the process. He wants to “pay it forward” to other people to help them avoid the pain he went through in his life.

Dan’s son was a good kid growing up, but in his teens he has started smoking pot, and his attitude has changed. Dan fears that he may be doing worse things than marijuana and that depression or even suicide are possible dangers. Dan wants to ensure that he and his wife are doing all they can to help protect their son before his life gets out of control, or before something terrible happens.

 

How to Provide Financial Support to STEPS Ministries

 The IRS EIN (tax identification number) is 83-084-1792. 

The annual budget for STEPS Ministries is $126,000. Our current goal is to raise $199,000 to cover that budget through year-end 2019. 

Getting a solid financial foundation in place is critical now as it allows us to focus the maximum attention on activities to serve others by helping people improve their lives, grow closer to God, and prevent addiction. The Board of Directors has approved this budget. Ministry finances will be examined quarterly by an accounting firm with reports to be reviewed by the Board of Directors. 

The budget includes website and digital technical support, content and curriculum, digital delivery and marketing, promotion, administration, accounting, taxes, materials, business development, professional development, travel, miscellaneous items, and a salary for Executive Director. 

All one-time or monthly donations are very welcome and appreciated with current monthly donations ranging from $20/month to $1000/month and one-time gifts from $100 to $10,000. 

Methods to donate include:

  • Monthly or 1-time via PayPal: https://lifeimprovementsteps.com/donate_steps_ministries/
  • Checks to STEPS Ministries can be sent to 1401 Charleston Court in Birmingham, AL 35216.
  • For monthly bank transfers, I’ll send the ministry bank account and routing numbers.
  • Using donor-advised funds such as NCF, which is now ready for processing.   
  • Donation of appreciated stock which can be processed now through NCF. 

For ongoing reference, here are websites that are part of STEPS Ministries: