CHRISTIANS SPEAK OUT AT DRUG-FREE RALLY

COCOA - Under a canopy of cooling trees, 16-year-old Chris Amos first
listened to the message being pumped on the loudspeakers then watched as a
motorcycle spit dirt into the air.

But despite the otherwise distracting theatrics of 30-foot jumps performed
by a motorcycle enthusiast a few yards away, the impact of the message was
not lost on the Titusville High School sophomore.

"I thought it was awesome," said Amos, one of nearly 180 people watching a
drug-free rally by DeCoster's Kids Motivational team Sunday at the Cocoa
Seventh-day Adventist Church on Cox Road.

"The jumps . . . you can't do drugs and do something like that," said Amos,
who talks candidly about the open pressure from his peers in high school to
get involved with drugs like marijuana and Ecstasy. It was the kind of
lesson the motorcycle team's leader, Bob Sparenberg, wanted to hear.

"I travel all over, putting on programs for kids," said Sparenberg, a
56-year-old Christian motivational speaker known as the "Faster Pastor"
because of his use of racing motorcycles and stunts to teach young children
about the hazards of illicit drug use.

His own private motivation comes from losing a friend to hepatitis he
contracted through using needles to feed a drug habit.

Alex Pinilla, pastor of the 120-member church, said he invited Sparenberg's
anti-drug rally to the area as an outreach program for teens and their parents.

"We believe Christ is the answer but people want to see something more
tangible," said Pinilla, adding the church also opens its doors to help
with the spiritual needs of its community.

Residents brought their coolers and lawn chairs to sit underneath the shade
of the trees while the motorcyclists performed. The Brevard County
Sheriff's Office also presented its armored tank, helicopter and bomb squad
van.

The audience also was entertained with a demonstration from the sheriff's
K-9 unit which practiced chewing on the padded arm of a deputy pretending
to be a wanted suspect.

Pinilla said the majority of the youth attending the rally were not
members. "We're glad that everyone could come out. We were waiting for
something like this," he said.