Our History
How It Began
The roots of Pursuit of More Ministries trace back to 2008 when the founder became a certified biblical counselor through the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).
As he began receiving counseling inquiries, a glaring gap in care became obvious. He was consistently approached by:
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Christian Men (Single and Married): Struggling deeply with pornography and substance abuse.
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Wives and Families: Desperately seeking guidance on how to navigate the destructive behaviors of a husband or son.
Identifying the Crisis in Care
Nearly all of his early counselees were referred by local churches, yet existing recovery models were failing them. Functional Professionals: Married men needed residential care but couldn't completely abandon their vocations or families. Sustained Recovery Challenges: Single men—particularly those battling substance abuse—were trapped in a cycle of restarting from scratch after every relapse due to a "one size fits all" mindset and approach and a lack of a clear continuum of care. The Family Burden: Wives and families were drowning in betrayal, guilt, shame, and the gripping fear of a toxic marriage or a future that would never change. There was a vital, systemic disconnection between the recovery community and local churches. Driven by the surging demand for crisis-based solutions and a desire to bring genuine compassion to the vulnerable, Shawn stepped into the gap.
The Genesis of a New Model
In 2010, he launched a biblical counseling network. Shortly after, he partnered with his youngest brother, William Saunders, and a father/son duo operating a Christian halfway house to establish a Christ-centered residential recovery farm. The farm featured four unique tracks created by Shawn, developed under the guidance of a local clinical expert (PhD in clinical psychology) who later stepped in as the organization's Clinical Director.
Achieving Critical Mass
By pooling their professional talents—the two brothers as expert fundraisers, and a partner who operated a successful CPA firm—the leadership team achieved remarkable momentum. Within just 14 months, the ministry achieved: Residential Care: Checked over 30 men into the four distinct recovery tracks. The Farm: Secured a 10-acre farm equipped with housing for 12 men and a footprint built for sustainable agriculture. Operations & Infrastructure: Recruited and trained a team of seven W-2 employees, backed by modern organizational hardware and software. Governance: Formed a highly qualified board consisting of seven fiduciary members and five advisory members. Philanthropic Pillars: Built lasting partnerships with two dozen churches, 12 high-capacity investors, several foundations, an active individual donor base of 1,000 supporters, and a robust client referral network.
Community Impact & Restructuring
The ministry’s primary focus remained serving the local church and co-laboring with Christ to see the self-righteous and the self-destructive repent and for families to heal. To bridge the gap, they hosted a weekly "Family Night," organized counseling symposiums, launched The Pursuit of More Addictions Conference, and brought a cadre of pastors directly to the farm to mentor the men. Much of this strategic success relied on the founder's itinerant teaching ministry and an incredible breadth of partnerships with recovery providers and elite institutions, including Duke University, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Liberty University.
A Strategic Pause and Relaunch
In 2014, the two main partners chose to separate the residential farm and transitional housing operations from the outpatient center, counseling network, and church-equipping services. This gave the founder the freedom to protect and eventually relaunch these core services.
Before transitioning into his current profession as a fund-development consultant for nonprofits, the founder authored a book to canonize his unique, grace-based approach and the profound lessons learned between 2008 and 2014.
In April 2026, he made the decision to update and formally publish his work, The Pursuit of More: How Addiction to Christ Makes Us
Fully Human. With this publication comes the exciting relaunch of the church-equipping services, once again serving families and churches
in North Carolina and Virginia.