Ed Jeffery, CACI, CES, ARBCS
Co-Founder
My name is Ed Jeffery. I was born in Fairmont, WV in 1947 to Albert and Imogene Jeffery. I am the oldest of three sons. I grew up in a stable Christian home in Valdosta, GA. I was a member of The Boy Scouts of America through my teens and received the God and Country Award. I attended Valdosta High School, North Florida Junior College, and Valdosta State College.
I started a career of drinking my junior year in high school which later expanded to drugs. For the next 27 years, I worked on my using story. I kept looking for a way to be happy, joyous, and free. I searched different churches and theologies for something to fill the hole in my heart.
In September of 1990, I entered a 28-day outpatient drug & alcohol rehab. Afterward, I immediately joined the 12-step programs of AA, NA & CA. I knew that there was a God, but I didn’t understand him. I believed the Lord would find me as I searched for him. After six years of working the 12 steps, I met Sally, the woman God had chosen for me. I was accelerated on my spiritual journey at this point. The Word was alive and I became an active part of the body of Christ. In 1996 on a friend’s porch swing I spoke the words that I accepted Jesus as my Savior.
In the early years of recovery, I was not in a church body; however, the Lord was growing in my heart. I poured myself out to those in need, sponsoring men in the program of CA. I picked men up from dope traps, under bridges, and out of jails. I paid men’s rent, bought them food, took them in, and gave away cars to men that needed them. More important than this physical help, I was there to love, encourage and be an example for my brothers and sisters.
In 2004 Sally and I were led to start a ministry named “Proclaim Liberty Ministries”. I had friends and associates with 5, 10, 15 years of sobriety who were miserable. I knew that true freedom came from a relationship with Jesus. Our ministry was based on the 12 Steps of AA applying the Scriptures to each step.
I had been praying for several years to be in full-time ministry. Sally and I felt it was time to walk in our calling of service. In 2008 we spent the year serving Providence Ministries in Dalton, GA as house parents for their boy’s home and working with their in-house drug and alcohol program.
On August 21, 2008, Sally and I acknowledged our long-felt desire to open a men’s transitional home and recovery center and laid it before the Lord. On August 23, 2008, there was a message on my phone from a friend stating a piece of property was available to do something good for the community and were we interested. This began the journey of Isaiah House.
