Best to Avoid Gambling Altogether, Says Expert
Gambling should be avoided altogether, warned the director of an addictive gambling recovery center.
"Anyone can become a problem gambler," the Rev. Tan Lye Keng of One Hope Center in Singapore told The Christian Post.
Tan, 57, observed that many of those helped by his organization were simply ignorant about the dangers of gambling. Some of them came from very good family backgrounds. Others were very well-educated, he noted.
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"Once you step into [gambling], whether you are winning or … losing, your mind will start changing, your personality will be affected," said the retired Methodist pastor. His organization has seen over 500 cases of addictive gambling in its past six years of existence.
The practical importance of money means that it is hard for gamblers to leave the gambling table. This is particularly the case for those who have counted losses.
"The problem of gambling is more serious than the drug and alcohol problem combined, because it affects many areas of the gambler's life, family life and even the people the gambler knows," he pointed out.
"So the best is to stop gambling," he emphasized.
Socially acceptable behavior?
The ministry leader shared his concern that the perception that leisure gambling is socially acceptable may have seeped into the church. Many church leaders do not see the Bible as prohibiting gambling, he lamented.
God never said: "Thou shalt not gamble." Yet it is clear from a proper study of the Bible that "God … definitely didn't like us to be involved in that kind of activity," he expressed.
Gambling actually goes against biblical teaching to believe in and worship God and not to covet what belongs to others, he explained. He was citing the first and tenth commandments. Gambling also violates the clear command to love others.
And so the church needs to take a firm and clear stand on gambling and prohibit Christian participation in the activity.
A survey conducted in 2008 by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports showed that nearly half of all Christians in Singapore gamble.
The mission of One Hope Center
One Hope Center is a Christian organization that started out of a regular gathering of pastors in Geylang to pray for the community. This prayer fellowship continued for some seven years. The organization was constituted out of it in 2004.
"We felt that we have to go and do something more concrete apart from just praying," said the Rev. Louis Chai, vice president of One Hope Center.
Addictive gambling was one of the three social issues the organization was set up to address. The other two were prostitution and the exploitation of foreign laborers in Singapore.
There are seven stages in the process of participation in gambling and recovery from it. They are: the winning stage, losing stage, desperate stage, hopeless stage, critical stage, rebuilding stage and growing stage.
The One Hope Center focuses on assisting gambling addicts who have reached the point – the hopeless stage – of wanting to quit gambling at all costs.
Before interviewing its clients, the organization provides pastoral care and conducts home visitations to calm the gambler and even family members.
One Hope features support groups both for the gamblers individually and together with their family members.
The family support group provides families with the opportunity to share their anxieties, stress, fears and worries. It also gives them a chance to listen to stories of how other families have been confronted with similar problems but have actually overcome. The aim is to show them that they are not alone and that there is a way out.
All this helps the gamblers in their reflection of the whole scenario during their interview.
Serious clients will go through a series of counseling sessions. These sessions last for at least three months.
It is important for family members of clients to cooperate with One Hope, Tan emphasized. The center is in the position to advise as to when to help bail out a gambler. But doing so before gamblers have learned their mistakes will not help them.
One Hope also assists gambling addicts in dealing with creditors and putting their lives in order.
