Pubdate: Sat, 25 Feb 2006
Source: Winchester Sun (KY)
Copyright: 2006 The Winchester Sun
Contact:  http://www.winchestersun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1083
Author: Tim Weldon, Sun Staff Writer

FAITH-BASED WAR ON DRUGS KICKS OFF SATURDAY

Several times each week deputy jailers lead a line of handcuffed 
inmates from the Clark County Detention Center to circuit or district 
court to face a judge. In the majority of cases, perhaps as much as 
80-90 percent of drug use is directly or indirectly responsible for 
inmates being locked up, according to prosecutors.

What bothers Henry Baker, an 83-year-old retired minister in 
Winchester, even more are the drug overdose deaths he hears about - 
nearly one per month in Clark County over the past year.

When he heard recently that a police drug dog was being used to 
search for drugs at a local school, it was the final straw. Baker 
said he couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned until he finally got out 
of bed and told his wife he needed to go into another room to pray.

"I said, 'The Lord is trying to tell me something.' ... And it was 
just as plain as you talking to me. He said, 'Come out of retirement. 
I've got a job for you.'"

Since then, Baker has begun a crusade to organize local ministers, 
youth leaders, industrial leaders, police, judges and elected 
officials to unite against drug use in Clark County. On Saturday, 
Baker plans to launch an effort called Clark County Christians United 
Against Drugs.

Baker hopes a higher power will succeed where tougher sentences and 
anti-drug campaigns have failed.

"I want a drug-free city and county," Baker said. "If they obey the 
Lord, the Lord will rescue them. I want to give them another 
opportunity, because God is a God of second chances. And work with 
them and tell them that 'It's not cool to do drugs.'"

At the same time that Baker sensed a calling to mobilize Clark County 
leaders against drug use, Roger Hurst, who owns Winchester Bait and 
Tackle Shop, said God "laid on his heart" that he should also become 
involved in the anti-drug movement.

Hurst, who is active in a jail ministry, befriended Thomas "Chris" 
Berryman, who was recently convicted in Clark Circuit Court of wanton 
murder for killing a Breathitt County man in a wreck on the Mountain 
Parkway. Berryman and a companion allegedly were returning from 
Stanton, where they had picked up a shipment of drugs purchased off 
the Internet at the time of the crash.

"We've got to change some things where we don't have any more Chris 
Berrymans," Hurst said. "We've got to change things so families don't 
have to go through that. Both the family that lost the loved one and 
the family of the man who is incarcerated."

Hurst said the group has a two-fold mission. One is to try to prevent 
drug use through education programs in schools. "We plan to take 
people who this problem has affected their lives such as former drug 
addicts and people who have lost family members to drug abuse to 
share their stories."

The group also plans a restoration ministry to reach out to drug addicts.

They are asking anyone interested in the fight against drugs to meet 
at 2 p.m. Saturday at Broadway Baptist Church.

Hurst said a similar organization in Powell County recently attracted 
900 people. Anthony Molihan, minister of the Church of God in 
Stanton, will speak at Saturday's meeting.

Hurst said his goal is to wipe out all drug use in Clark County. 
However, he says the venture will be successful even if it 
accomplishes a lot less.

"If we change one life, if we keep one person from being tried for 
murder, it will be a success. Anything past that is a bonus," Hurst explained.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman