BY JOYCE GODWIN
HERALD DEMOCRAT
There was standing room only Thursday night at the Municipal Ballroom in Sherman. Donors and volunteers gathered to hear best-selling author Ron Hall tell his story and to support the Four Rivers Outreach of Sherman, a ministry helping hundreds successfully conquer addiction.
Hall wrote the book, "Same kind of Different as Me" which chronicles his work with the homeless in Fort Worth.
It was a giving banquet and well exceeded the goal of raising $60,000, said event spokesperson and Four Rivers board member Frances Pelley. A lofty achievement for any charity in today's economy, and only three-and-a-half years after beginning, the turnout was almost overwhelming for the mission's founders.
Larry Watkins, who owns Watkins Transportation Services in Sherman, is one of those. Watkins said he and Arthur Horn were helping out with the boys at the Grayson County Boot Camp through their association with the Air Chapel Ministries, when Arthur shared a vision called "church with no walls."
"Two weeks later Judge (Rim) Nall said he needed a house (to help with members of his Star Drug Program) and that was the start," Watkins said. "Then we bought a building on Rusk (Street) and outgrew it -- then bought a building across the street (the current location) -- to help people transition their life."
A large number of individuals who come to Four Rivers are homeless and all are struggling against a culture of drugs and alcohol. "The majority have never felt the love. ... they come from broken homes, many with abuse, and have never had anybody to reach out for them," Watkins said.
Financial solvency has been a struggle for the ministry at times Watkins said, but they've been able to work it out. "We've been blessed with private donations and some from United Way and Rotary, and we've received other grants," he said. "We couldn't make it without the many volunteers."
Concern for the people who come before him struggling with addictions, inspired Nall to work with the Star Drug Program, he said, and Four Rivers is the "best resource we have for the people who need help with alcoholism and drugs. It's just invaluable. They are amazing what they do there. And it's amazing to see how far they've come in just three and a half years.
"The two programs complement each other -- they are a perfect match. I love to see faces at Four Rivers that I see in the courtroom."
Horn was walking around before the program began just enjoying all the people who showed up in support of the Four Rivers program. He said he was surprised that so many people responded.
"I never thought it wasn't going to happen," Horn said. "It was always happening. From the day we started it has grown every day and it has just been an incredible ride."
He said he thought raising community support was "kind of difficult" but credits Watkins and Nall for making it easier. "Because Larry knows everybody in town," he said with a smile, "more and more people are getting involved all the time."
One of those is Jimmy Grimes of Van Alstyne who is an elder at Legacy Bible Church of Sherman.
"We support Four Rivers," he said. "I've been out there a few times and they are the type of ministry that will reach out to folks who normally won't go inside a church. And it's people who've had some difficulties -- maybe drugs or alcohol problems -- and it's a place they feel comfortable." It's helping people start new lives after addictions, Grimes said.
Randy Smith spoke to the crowd from the stage. He is one who got an opportunity to begin again. Smith said his addiction had cost him everything he had. He built million-dollar houses on lakes, and he thought he had all the money he would ever need.
"My family was done with me," Smith said. "My children were done with me, but God wasn't." Smith said his life began to turn around when Arthur and Jeannie Horn introduced him to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He said he was happy to be there to say thank you to the givers who made it possible for him to learn to live the rest of his life sober. He had been in and out or seven different rehabs before Four Rivers. "But they did not work for me because there was no love or volunteers to spend their time to come up there and be with people like me. Arthur and Jeannie, the directors at Four Rivers, y'all saved my life."
Today, Smith lives in the Tyler area and is in construction again. "I've got my boys back," he said. "God has His hands on Four Rivers and because of that His hands are on me. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself."
As Smith left the podium, a crowd with tear-stained faces welcomed him back to his seat with a standing ovation.
Seeing "what God has done with this ministry," Watkins said, makes him excited about Four Rivers' future.
"It's not a job to us, it's a passion," Horn said.