PORTSMOUTH MINISTRY MAKES ITS MARK HELPING TO FIGHT DRUG USE

PORTSMOUTH -- Former NBA player and ABA basketball star Marvin "Bad News"
Barnes probably best earned his nickname off the court.

He served time in four different prisons for charges including assault with
a deadly weapon, extortion, theft and drug possession. He has been in and
out of at least 18 different drug rehabilitation programs for cocaine
addiction.

But Barnes, a former All-American at Providence who signed a professional
basketball contract for $2.3 million in 1974 and played his first two
seasons with the ABA's St. Louis Spirits, also will tell anyone that his
greatest victory came off the court. He said it's a victory he won with the
help of Jesus Christ.

He and more than 50 other people were part of the second annual Victory in
Jesus Substance Abuse Ministry on Sunday at Mount Carmel Baptist Church. The
ministry is aimed at helping former drug dealers, drug addicts, prostitutes
and others who have struggled in the past with keeping their lives on track.

The Rev. Elbert T. Knight, pastor at Mount Carmel Baptist, said the
"one-step" program is based on its participants' faith and acceptance of
Jesus Christ. Participants meet at the church a couple of times a week for
spiritual support and guidance through Scripture.

"All of these people, nine times out of 10," have been through other drug
programs, Knight added. "It did not work, and the reason why is because they
did not deal with the real problem. . . . We have found that it is a
spiritual battle that they're dealing with."

Knight also said drug addiction leads to other problems that must be
addressed during treatment.

"Even when people get off drugs, there are other issues. . . . We deal with
the building up of that whole person," mainly through ministry, he added.

Testimonies also came from those who were involved in other illegal
activities in the past, including prostitution, sexual abuse and drug
dealing.

Darryl Staton, a former drug dealer, was robbed and shot five times with a
.44-caliber Magnum pistol in 1995. Although the shooting left Staton
wheelchair-bound, he said he walks spiritually with the help of Jesus and
has been in the program for the past six months.

"I'm not doing as good as I'd like to be right now, but it's by the grace of
God that I'm back and in the land of the living," said Staton, 34. "It ain't
where I want to be at, but it ain't where I used to be."

Circuit Court Judge Johnny E. Morrison was the keynote speaker of the event,
and others including Mayor James W. Holley III, Commonwealth's Attorney
Martin Bullock, Circuit Court Judges James A. Cales Jr. and Von L. Piersall
Jr. also attended to show their support for the participants.

Tonda Blount, who was addicted to cocaine, thanked Judge Cales for giving
her another chance to beat her addiction.

"I just knew this program was for me," said Blount, 32, who talked to Knight
during a radio program about the ministry. "When I asked about the program,
he told me he was the director, and I got excited about it."

Barnes, who is married and now lives in Portsmouth, said drug addiction is
"ungodly, and everything associated with it is demonic." He also said the
various programs he attended in the past "didn't talk about Jesus," but
"God's grace" is exactly what he needed.

"Satan wasn't trying to ruin my life. He wasn't trying to ruin my basketball
career. . . . He was trying to get my soul," Barnes said. "He won a lot of
battles, but I saved my soul and won the war when I got baptized and gave my
life to Jesus Christ."