In the last few years, much attention has focused on a drug problem decimating American communities: addition to opioids. In 2016,
Christianity Today devoted
an entire issue to the problem. In response Congress has passed some
legislation, signed into law by the President. Thankfully churches have stepped up in communities across the country to help alleviate the problem.
In Indianapolis several local churches have
partnered with the Overdose Lifeline to receive training and tools to help addicted people in their communities:
The group meets inside Carmel Christian Church—a church that's embraced the call to action to help stop the opioid epidemic.
Pastor Jerry Zehr is part of a new effort by the Overdose Lifeline to form an interfaith coalition and develop a strategic plan for churches to be a powerful force in the battle against addiction.
"We are trying to be a place, a recovery church, a place where people can come to find a sense of hope and grace and love and that they'll be encouraged rather than judged," Zehr said.
At just their second meeting, members received a hands-on lesson on Naloxone and a free Narcan kit for faith leaders.
Helping those addicted to opioids can be complicated. In a helpful piece (
Hope for America’s Opioid Epidemic Is Grace in a Syringe), an emergency physician in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, explains why recovery is often a long and difficult road:
While the goal for most users attending recovery programs is to get clean, the process is extremely difficult. Because opioid use permanently changes the structure and chemistry of the brain’s reward and pleasure systems and the body’s perception of pain, withdrawal is excruciating and the rate of relapse is exceptionally high: around 90 percent despite the most effective therapies. Overdoses happen most frequently when an addict relapses after a period of abstinence because their body’s tolerance to the drug drops substantially, and the same dose that may have only barely touched their pain previously is now lethally potent. The drug depresses the user’s respiratory and central nervous system so much that they stop breathing, and the resulting lack of oxygen quickly leads to brain and vital organ injury and minutes later to cardiac arrest. This means that one of the most lethal periods in an opioid addict’s struggle—the time they are most likely to overdose—is when they are trying to get clean.
