CHRISTIANS TAKE UP THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUG ABUSE

'The Most ... Devastating Of The Problems We Face'

PAINTSVILLE - Christians in drug-ravaged central Appalachia are
increasingly reaching out to addicts instead of waiting for government
programs to rid the region of what some have described as a scourge.

In the latest initiative, the Christian Appalachian Project announced
Friday that it plans to invest $1 million to open long-term rehabilitation
centers in Eastern Kentucky to help drug abusers to break their addictions.

Bill Mills, president of the ministry that has fed and clothed the poor in
Appalachia for 40 years, said churches and other Christian organizations
are stepping forward to deal with the drug problem.

"Substance abuse is a plague upon our Eastern Kentucky communities," he
said. "It is the most dominant and devastating of the problems we face
today. We simply are choosing to be part of the solution."

While Christian groups support the work of federal and state agencies that
are working to combat the drug problem through law enforcement and
government-funded treatment centers, the Rev. Doug Abner said they're also
looking for ways to be personally involved.

They're opening drug rehabilitation centers, taking part in large anti-drug
rallies, reaching into their pocketbooks to help pay for detoxification,
starting neighborhood watch programs, monitoring drug cases from
arraignment to sentencing in local courts, and working one-on-one with
recovering addicts to encourage them to stay drug-free.

Soon after prescription drug abuse reached "epidemic" proportions in the
Hazard area, Abner said residents in Perry County opened Joshua's Dream
Foundation, an organization that provides free rehabilitation for drug addicts.

In Clay County, Christians wanted to show their opposition to drug dealers.
On a rainy day last May, 3,500 people from 63 local churches rallied in
Manchester to show their opposition to the illegal drug trade.

"We repented for being more concerned about our buildings and our programs
than for our people," said Abner, pastor of Community Church in Manchester.
"That went a long way toward changing things. We are seeing the churches
step outside their walls and get involved, which is something we needed to
do forever but didn't."

Marilynn Payson, director of community development for Christian
Appalachian Project, said her organization historically has worked to help
impoverished people with physical needs. In fact, a warehouse outside
Paintsville is filled with crates of food destined for communities
throughout central Appalachia.

Payson said expanding the organization's efforts to help drug addicts
recover is a natural extension of the organization's work.

"We were started to help remedy the ramifications of poverty, and this is
just one more part of that mission," she said.

Mills said the Christian Appalachian Project will open a prototype women's
drug recovery center in Rockcastle County by the end of this year, which
will transition into a larger recovery center that will open in Martin
County by late 2006.

Mills said his organization will seek donations to cover the startup costs
plus about $500,000 a year in operational expenses.

Besides drug rehabilitation, the Christian Appalachian Project will provide
job training for addicts, teach parenting skills, and even teach them to
read and write if necessary. The organization also is encouraging churches
to adopt recovering addicts after they complete rehabilitation to offer
support and encouragement to stay off drugs.

"We want to give them a new lease on life," he said.

Abner said he believes such initiatives will help central Appalachia win
the war against drugs.

"Just the fact that good people are standing up and being counted really
makes a difference," he said. "We've complained. We've grumbled. We've done
all those things. Now we've decided to be a part of the solution."