When the disciples of John the Baptist come to ask Jesus if he is truly the Messiah or not he answers them; ” Go and tell John what you see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.”
In response to the crisis many churches are seeking to emulate Christ’s ministry in directly confronting the opioid epidemic by initiating needle exchange programs.
“The North American Syringe Exchange
Network, or NASEN, reports 228 syringe exchange programs operating in 35
states and Washington, D.C. But the number of programs is growing
weekly in response to the rise in heroin overdose deaths across the country.
Neither NASEN nor the Harm Reduction
Coalition has an estimate of the number of faith-based churches and
organizations directly involved in syringe exchange, but momentum is
clearly gathering. Church-based programs are operating in communities
across the country, including Seattle; Cincinnati; Albany, N.Y.; and
even in traditionally conservative southern states.
Institutions such as the United Methodist
Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), United Church of Christ and
National Council on Jewish Women have issued statements of support for
syringe exchange.”
James Sizemore, Pastor of the Radiant Life Church in Fayetteville, NC, was relieved that North Carolina recently legalized needle exchange programs;
“It was never an issue of, ‘Is this the
right thing to do spiritually, scripturally?’” Sizemore said of his
efforts. “For us, it was the right thing to do … You can’t save
somebody’s soul if they’re dead.”
Syringe exchange fits into his church’s primary mission, tending to an array of immediate needs.
You can’t “preach salvation” to someone
who’s in the throes of addiction, battling for their life, or turning
tricks to feed their kids, Sizemore said. “They’re not interested in
hearing anything about the spirit because they’re concerned about these
issues first.”
“Slowly, but surely,” he said, “we
established a good enough relationship in the neighborhood that they
trusted us enough to care for them spiritually.”
“Carrothers said that while providing
clean syringes is a critical service, “Almost equally important is that
we provide a nonjudgmental space to talk about what they’re going
through and answer questions that they might otherwise be afraid to
ask.”
Carrothers distributes some 300 to 400
syringes each week. But the need to help IV drug users continues to
mount. She’s now talking with a Lutheran church in Fayetteville and
Episcopal churches in Little Rock about hosting exchanges.”
Is your faith community engaged in a needle exchange program or addressing the opioid addiction in other ways?