About the Organization
Who We Are
Our History
Our Vision
Our Mission
Our Mission Strategy
Our Core Values
Our Doctrinal Position
Our Counseling Philosophy
Our Strategic Programs
Our Board Of Directors
Who We Are
The core ministry programs of The HopeQuest Ministry Group, Inc. were founded by Rev. Roy A. Blankenship in August of 1996 under the organizational ownership of First Baptist Church of Woodstock Georgia, Inc. These programs were an integral component of the Pastoral Counseling Ministry of First Baptist Church designed for the strategic purpose of helping people who struggle intensely with life dominating issues related to alcohol abuse, substance abuse, and/or sexual brokenness.
In 2004, as First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia prepared to open its new 7,500 seat Worship Center, State Farm Insurance required that the residential discipleship oriented counseling programs related to alcohol, substance abuse, and sexual brokenness be separated from the church. As a direct result, TREK Ministries, Inc. was formed on June 21, 2004 as a Georgia non-profit corporation. On October 14, 2004, The Internal Revenue Service determined that TREK Ministries, Inc. would be considered as a public charity and was therefore exempt from Federal income tax under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It was further determined that contributions to the organization were deductible under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code and that the organization could receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts under section 2055, 2106, or 2522 of the Internal Revenue Code. The State of Georgia Revenue Department conferred the same status on the organization.
Effective June 26, 2006, the organizational name was changed from TREK Ministries, Inc. to The HopeQuest Ministry Group, Inc. This name change was effected in order to adopt the HopeQuest brand as a theme of ministry operations for the organization. Today, the TREK Program is only one of several key ministry programs operating under the organizational umbrella of The HopeQuest Ministry Group, Inc. The HopeQuest Ministry Group, Inc. is governed by an independent Board of Directors. The integrity of ministry operations is substantiated yearly by an independent audit firm who reports directly to the Board of Directors.
The organization’s financial calendar year runs from January 1 through December 31. Financial solicitation permits have been applied for, received, and are being maintained in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Currently, financial solicitation permits are being applied for in the following states: Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Organizational History
Click here to read more about our history.
Organizational Vision
The HopeQuest Ministry Group, Inc. exists to positively impact the culture regarding alcohol use, substance use, and sexual expression. Our programs are designed to both influence and bring healing to individuals, marriages, and families resulting in stronger families and communities. It would be our desire that the HopeQuest dream rise up from within our community in Cherokee County, Georgia and become a lifeline for hurting and broken individuals throughout the United States of America and ultimately, the whole world.
The HopeQuest Ministry Group, Inc. strives to present a replicable Christian model, both clinical and organizational, that is built upon evidence based clinical practice and non-profit organizational best practices. It would be our desire to see HopeQuest become a sought after opportunity for master's and doctoral level professional clinical training through practicum and internship opportunities Finally, The HopeQuest Ministry Group, Inc. desires to become a nationally recognized center for addiction research with training opportunities for professional clinicians while continuing to provide programs of excellence which offer mental health treatment and personal growth options for persons impacted by life dominating issues (related to alcohol, substance use, or sexual brokenness).
Organizational Mission
Equipping the Christian church while advancing Judeo-Christian methodologies in the mental health disciplines and the field of addiction.
Organizational Strategy
The HopeQuest Ministry Group, Inc. offers a comprehensive set of Christian ministry programs designed to support healing and growth for persons, including their marriages and families, who struggle with life dominating issues related to alcohol and substance dependence and/or sexual brokenness. While much of the mental health helping profession has been developed by the secular disciplines of psychology, psychiatry, and mental health, it is our belief that it is God's intent for psychological and emotional healing to take place within the body of Christ in the community of local believers and in the context of the local church.
In the context of the professional secular disciplines, mental health professionals have been influenced to consider Christian faith as a religious practice that can be active or inactive by personal choice. Rather, it must be established that true Christian faith is a lifestyle which results from characterological change and progressive transformation in the life of an individual who participates in a true Christian salvation experience. In the professional mental health helping community, it must be established that it is not possible for a Christian individual to fully repress the expression of their Christian worldview and Biblically based value system when working with clients in the counseling context. Rather than attempts to integrate Christian faith into psychological theory and practice, it must be established that the Judeo-Christian worldview is a domain in which the Christian professional is free to operate. Therefore, the more appropriate course of action for the truly Christian mental health professional is to disclose their Christian beliefs during the Informed Consent process.
It is our belief that pornography is immoral and its use is not only sinful, but can also become an idolatrous practice. Pornography feeds the lust inherent in the human mind and heart. It is a form of sexual practice which turns sexual energy inward. This drives a satanic stake in the heart of true intimacy which is God’s intent for the marriage relationship. Not only is the individual affected, but marriages and families are harmed in the process.
Because of the unregulated obscenity freely available on today’s World Wide Web, it is not only possible for children to misuse the internet, but also for children to innocently stumble across inappropriate [including visual] information. The unfortunate result is a loss of innocence that will have a lifelong impact on a child.
Finally, the modern day malady of sexual abuse has resulted in the victimization of children, something that should arouse righteous indignation in the heart and mind of every Christian person. Instead, the church at large hardly realizes that there is such a concern to be dealt with, much less how to bring healing and hope – in the name of Jesus – to innocent children (and adults who were victimized as a child) who now sit in the pews of every congregation.
Core Organizational Values
HopeQuest upholds ethical, moral and Christian values in all aspects of counseling, teaching and administration.
He who walks uprightly walks securely. Proverbs 10:9
1.3.1 - A Biblically Based Ministry
HopeQuest uses the God’s written word to establish the foundation by which we direct our clients in physical, emotional and spiritual health.
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
1.3.2 - A Theologically Sound Ministry
HopeQuest places utmost importance on sound theology based on biblical inerrancy and Spirit led understanding.
O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. Psalm 63:1
1.3.3 - A Christ Centered Ministry
HopeQuest teaches that God’s word became the man Jesus Christ who died for the sins of mankind. Jesus is the Truth and no man can be truly free apart from a relationship with God through Christ.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free John 1:14, John 8:32
1.3.4 - A Clinically Effective Ministry
HopeQuest consists of trained counselors and staff who use clinically effective strategies and models to gain information, determine treatment methods and to establish a plan of recovery.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
1.3.5 - A Servant Focused Ministry
HopeQuest believes that the best leadership is leading by example. We share God’s love as we serve those He loves.
Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve Matthew 20:28
1.3.6 - A Relationship Driven Ministry
HopeQuest believes that relationships are key to abundant life. Relationship begins with God and receiving His love we can love others in honest and authentic relationship.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27
1.3.7 - A Financially Accountable Ministry
HopeQuest is accountable for all donations and earning in order to uphold financial integrity and biblical stewardship.
Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it. Proverbs 21:20
Organizational Ministry Philosophy
We believe that persons are created by God with both material and immaterial components. This is not to imply that we embrace a dichotomous view concerning our theological position. Our intent is to state the belief that while there is a part of a person that can be observed, studied, and measured, every person has an immaterial part that cannot be observed, studied, or measured.
The HopeQuest Ministry Group, Inc. is a distinctively Christian organization which believes that this immaterial part of a person can only be understood by God's revelation to mankind in the Holy Scriptures. Our conviction is that the Bible is the source of our human understanding regarding all things unseen.
In addition, the Bible is the source for understanding God's purposeful intent regarding His creation. The Holy Scriptures make it clear that persons are created as both thinking and feeling beings. Differing emotional expressions and heart states are clearly evidenced in biblical characters and narrative. The Holy Scriptures also make it clear that at least one purpose for God's purpose in creating man is for companionship and relationship in the context of a marriage and a family.
We believe that marriage is the spiritual, emotional, and physical union of a man and a woman. In this union, the married couple becomes the foundation for a home and family life. In God's design, children are born, become part of a family, and are raised by a mother and a father. Part of the human developmental process is for children to develop as persons and gain independence while retaining the ability to remain in togetherness through intimate familial interpersonal relationships.
The influence of sin in the world has resulted in a distortion of God’s original design and purpose for human beings, the pinnacle of His creation. While the full image of God is seen in the polarity of masculine and feminine in each individual, the full manifestation of this image is seen in the complementary union of the man and woman, the male and the female. The Holy Scriptures reveal God’s intention of the marriage relationship to fully express this union including the special intimacy between a man and his wife which is to be a physical (or seen) representation of the kind of union God desires with those who belong to Him.
This type of intimate (caring and sharing) relationship involves reciprocal interpersonal sharing of feelings, emotional heart states, personal thoughts, and opinions. Because of the effect of sin in our world, many have lost (some never learned during their developmental process) the ability (or willingness) to risk vulnerability and transparency in close relationship. One result is the lack of a vocabulary (feeling or heart state words) which communicate the inner state of one’s emotional and spiritual state. Obviously this would result in an impairment concerning one’s ability to be self-aware and self-expressive in important intimate interpersonal relationship experiences.
At least one component of the addiction recovery involves a process of self-discovery. From the Judeo-Christian perspective, self-discovery includes recognizing that in order to be fully human, one needs a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. Through this relationship and the empowerment of the indwelling Holy Spirit, an individual is able to develop and maintain the inner strength and resolve to make the appropriate choices and maintain the resolve and commitment which results in personal transformation and change.
At The HopeQuest Ministry Group, Inc. we believe that self-discovery process is built upon the foundation of self-awareness and self-expression. Becoming aware of one’s own deficiencies, inadequacies, and shortcomings opens the door for a person to gain the needed skills to be honest, authentic, and real – first with themselves, then with their Creator God, and finally in close interpersonal human relationships.
The clinical programs at HopeQuest are based on a spiritual, biological, psychological, social, and medical framework. From the spiritual perspective, we believe that one needs a relationship with God including the ability to rely on Him for strength, wisdom, and guidance in life and the recovery journey. From the perspective of biology, we believe there is both a nature and nurture aspect to the addiction problem. While there is an element of disease, resulting from genetic expression (nature), in the addictive process, this disease component is highly influenced by the accumulation of life experiences (nurture) including trauma, stress, and maladaptive coping styles. In addition, brain deficiencies or abnormalities regarding the stress response system, malfunctioning neurotransmitter systems, impulse control disorders (including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder concerns) and the physiological affect in anxiety and panic disorder can be biological factors affecting the addictive process.
From the psychosocial perspective, a lack of interpersonal relationship skills, our anecdotal observations conclude that confrontation and conflict resolution abilities are lacking in many addicted individuals. An imbalance in the aggression, assertion, and relational scales on the Interpersonal Behavioral Survey (1993) is a common finding. In addition, the Measures of Psychosocial Development instrument often demonstrates a level of personal deficiency regarding Erikson’s developmental stages – an observation that could be concluded to be a factor in a client’s ability to maintain a non-addictive lifestyle including the ability to engage in interpersonal skill development. From the perspective of the psychological, it is not uncommon for individuals who struggle with addiction issues to present with dual diagnosis. The HopeQuest Ministry Group, Inc. staff recognizes the importance of skillfully treating issues related to trauma, emotional wounding, sexual abuse, and pathological disorders.
From the medical perspective, we believe that in order for one to effectively deal with spiritual, emotional, psychological, and relational issues, an individual must be in good physical condition. Once a client has completed the detoxification process, bodily needs regarding proper rest, nutrition, and exercise are addressed. While The HopeQuest Ministry Group, Inc. is not a medical facility, volunteer professional physicians assist in the medical management of those physical concerns which have been determined as a barrier in the client’s recovery process.
The HopeQuest Ministry Group programs utilize treatment modalities which include experiential work (such as Gestalt techniques), psychodrama, and focused expressive work, as well as cognitive-behavioral approaches. In addition to our Judeo-Christian philosophical worldview and our biblically based value system, the ministry programs at HopeQuest are also influenced by some of the theoretical principles taken from the field of psychology. While many in the Christian community believe this to be an unacceptable practice, it is our conviction that it is possible to live in the world, and yet not be conformed to it (cf. Romans 12:2). Therefore, a study and review of the psychological literature can be helpful when conducted by a trained theological mind and devoted follower of Jesus Christ.
Organizational Theological Position
Theological Doctrinal Position
Click here to review a document outline the doctrinal position our organization upholds.
Organizational Programs
Click here to learn more about our organization programs.
Our Board Of Directors
Rev. Roy A. Blankenship MAMFT, CCADC, BCPC
Stephen D. Hendrix CADC-II
Dr. J. C. and Debra Lester
Mr. Clarence Waldrop, III
Mr. Charles A. Stokes MS, LPC, LMFT