About GCR
Gospel Centered Recovery
Transformation and Call to Ministry:
God radically transformed David’s life at the age of thirty-four when he became a new creation in Christ Jesus. His prior life of sin, prison, and addiction passed away, and God gave him a burden for people struggling under the weight of sin and addiction.
David has been involved with addiction recovery since his first mission trip to L.A.in 2009, when he tended to the homeless on Skid Row. Even though he had addictions, lived in his car, and had spent time in prison, David’s heart did not particularly warm to the homeless or the addicts he met on that trip. Over the next few years, the Lord changed David’s heart through Scripture. When the Lord prompted David to leave his construction company and move to L.A., David sold, gave, or threw most of his belongings away. With the clothes on his back and a suitcase holding a few clothes, Bibles, and a couple of commentaries, David headed to L.A. to serve the homeless and addicts like those he had met just a few years prior. Little did David know that God was calling him into Addiction Ministry. At that time, he was not even sure exactly what that meant, but he knew God was leading.
Qualifications and Preparations:
David served in ministry on Skid Row for over a year. He returned to Iowa and in 2014 enrolled at Faith Baptist Bible College as a forty-two-year-old freshman. He began attending Fellowship Baptist Church. During his sophomore year at Faith, Fellowship Baptist Church appointed him to a ministry position at a local apartment complex. His responsibility was to share the gospel with the residents of the complex as an extension of the local church. In 2017 David came on staff as Ministry Coordinator when both pastors left within a month. Working with the church deacons, he coordinated church ministries until the new pastor was called. David stayed on as an intern with the new pastor. As he continued to serve at Fellowship, David (2017) was convicted to start a truly Bible-centered addiction recovery group in partnership with two like-minded churches. It was during this time that David became a missionary with ABWE. After his internship at Fellowship, David accepted a position as assistant Chaplin at the Polk County jail in Des Moines, Iowa. While serving at the jail, an opportunity came for David to help launch a Bible-based recovery house called “The Refuge” in Winterset, Iowa. Afterward he resumed ministry on the southside of Des Moines at his sending church – Living Waters Fellowship. David is currently raising personal financial support for fulltime ministry with abwe EveryEthnē and continues to disciple men, train leaders, and work with local churches in a Biblical addiction recovery ministry.
"As a church, we've been doing life with Dave for many years and have seen him in both his highs and lows. We've had the privilege of discipling Dave and watching him grow in grace through the power of God's Word, and now, as his sending church, we are thrilled to see his ministry really taking off. God has gifted Dave with a powerful Gospel testimony that connects directly with people struggling with addiction. Though highly connective, Dave's ministry is firmly tethered to God's Word and a Biblical framework of growth and change, which is a unique and beautiful combination! It's our prayer that many churches will partner with Dave and see people in their community transformed through the power of the Gospel."
Pastor Josh Daggett
Des Moines, IA
"Dave is uniquely gifted at reaching a group of people foreign to some life-long churchgoers. I have learned from him how to minister grace while delivering hard truths to those who have been ensnared by addictions. Dave piloted an addiction recovery program at our church, and I hope many other churches will join him in offering Biblical solutions to a group of people desperate for hope."
Dan Vance, Senior Pastor
"I have no doubt the Lord has uniquely gifted and called David to serve those stuck in the addictions of life. The Lord brought him out of his own chains of addiction through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and David's passion now is to mobilize others to see how the truth of God's Word frees them from their own chains. Through years of experience of serving in this ministry, he is uniquely qualified to help other churches think through a strategy to begin their own ministry to the addicted."
For His Glory and Our Good,
Thad Bergmeier
ABWE North America
"Dave is passionate about his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is dedicated to sharing the freedom from sin and newness of life that only Christ can provide. His all to Christ-centered addiction recovery and counseling is evident in his life and ministry. He is devoted to rightly dividing the Word of God and helping others walk in the Truth. We have received help from Dave in our local church and are looking forward to starting a recovery program in our community."
Pastor Matt Froah
"Dave loves Jesus and wants to be used by Him in the lives of others. Over and over we have seen God use him in the lives of others, especially those who struggle under the weight of sin and addiction. Dave has been instrumental in helping our church plan and facilitate a Christ-centered recovery program. Dave has a heart to help those who struggle in this area by equipping them and walking with them in the various aspects of their recovery. God is using Dave's past struggles, talents, gifts, and desires to help others and assist the local church in understanding what Christ-based addiction recovery ministry looks like and implementing that in the local church. I hope you will see how vital this ministry is and help support him and partner with him in this vital role of helping and equipping the local church to care for and walk alongside those in the church that need the hope and help of the gospel in their lives."
Pastor Andy Bittle
Counseling Pastor | Living Waters Fellowship
