“Our whole job is taking people to Jesus.”

Elizabeth Mabie
Special to Spur Ottawa

With summer vacation over and another school year begun, Union City Church, in the Glebe, has launched a new program of their own. On September 7, they kicked off the first session of LifeLab, a teaching program aimed at motivating change in the broken-spirited.

Much like grade school, LifeLab students grow through teaching, building relationships, and completing homework assignments. The program ministers to anyone who has been burdened by any form of addiction, ranging from substance abuse to internet dependencies.

Jon Ruby, the founder of LifeLab and lead church planter at Union City Church, explains that in life, “we never really know what we’re doing or why we’re doing it. We have to get a different solution, which is God. Our whole job is taking people to Jesus.”

Ruby knows the material well, having run the addiction treatment program for nine years at Jericho Road Ministries. He has watched this process turn addicts’ lives around, removing the metaphorical garbage from their lives and guiding them to a life of hope and wholeness.

The course runs Mondays nights from September to January. The teaching covers numerous topics aiming to help students apply the lessons practically in their lives.

“Hopefully at the end they will experience the presence of God and come glowing down the mountain.”

Ruby describes the whole process as one long climb up a mountain, like Moses climbing Mount Sinai.

“All we’re doing is taking people up the mountain to meet with God and have a spiritual experience,” says Ruby. “There is a lot of homework and a lot of digging. Hopefully at the end they will experience the presence of God and come glowing down the mountain.”

Initially Ruby planned to partner with another local pastor to implement a fitness and cardio side to the program. Mike Croteau pastors Community Life Church, in Beaverbrook, but he also owns the Creed Martial Arts studio. He was scheduled to lead the students in a 45-minute cardio kickboxing segment of the class. Unfortunately, shortly before the program launched, Croteau had to postpone his involvement. Ruby says they hope to include the cardio aspect and add a second evening each week for future semesters.

Another distinct feature of LifeLab is the presence of a pacesetter in the class. Pacesetters are people who have already completed LifeLab. While they are not instructors, they act as companions for the students, supporting them and cheering them on through the healing process.

“I found I was able to become spiritually healthy and deal with a lot of emotional wounds.”

Johanne Beattie was among the group of “guinea pigs” in a LifeLab trial run. She returned this fall as a pacesetter. She says she is excited about the chance to help others look inside and find healing.

“It was really impactful and meaningful for me. I found I was able to become spiritually healthy and deal with a lot of emotional wounds,” she says. “It made such a difference in my life, it just makes sense to give back.”

“Where there’s hopelessness there can always be hope,” Ruby states. “There is a solution: God. He brings peace. He brings hope. He brings identity and healing.”