Drug treatment ministry embraces deliverance By Ciona Rouse
UMConnection Staff
When Hal T. Henderson Jr. announced his addiction to drugs at a bishops drug ministry initiative meeting in 1990, no one in the room was more shocked than his father the Rev. Hal T. Henderson Sr., a clergyman in the conference. Following the meeting, Henderson Sr. asked his son why he had never mentioned his addiction before. Henderson Jr. told his father he didnt think the church would care. On Jan. 18, at a special worship service at Mt. Oak UMC in Mitchellville, Henderson Sr., who is now the director of the Resurrection Drug Treatment Ministry, announced that the church has moved beyond just talking and planning about caring and has begun active ministry. Resurrection Drug Treatment Ministries is a coalition made up of groups like Teen Challenge Substance Abuse Ministries, Celebrate Recovery of Mt. Oak UMC and Recovery King II Drug Ministry of Baltimore, and more than 250 clergy and lay people. The coalition, which is a ministry of the Baltimore-Washington Conference Substance Abuse Initiative, kicked off its efforts to actively seek an end to substance abuse in the area at the worship service, which was attended by more than 250 people. At least half of the worshippers stood to identify themselves as drug addicts in recovery. They celebrated with music led by musicians from Gibbons-Resurrection and Mt. Oak UMCs. Speakers shared their personal testimonies of deliverance from drug addiction. My story is (that) I once was lost but now Im found, said Henderson Jr., who was a drug dealer for 10 years and a heroin addict for six years. Each speaker shared how Gods grace brought him to deliverance from an addiction. Dave Dent, who heads the Celebrate Recovery team at Mt. Oak UMC, told his story of recovery, which has inspired him to want to help others find strength in Christ. We are not only here to celebrate our own recovery, but we are here to carry the good news to those who still struggle, Dent said to the crowd. As pastor of Gibbons-Resurrection UMC, the Rev. Rodney Smothers offered encouragement to those in the struggle by telling them that there is hope for every person to trade one addiction for an addiction to the love of Christ. The keynote speaker, the Rev. Reginald Johnson, who directs Recovery King II ministry, echoed similar words of encouragement when he said that God could change the most pitiful people. It doesnt matter how long youve been on drugs, Johnson told the audience. God can clean you up. The ministry team has plans to eventually have 10 resource centers for drug addicts that would operate on seven basic principles: awareness, intervention, education and employment training, wholistic treatment, healing, biblical-based deliverance and preparation for society. Resurrection Drug Treatment Ministry is making plans to open three centers. They will be operating at Congress Heights UMC in Washington, D.C., and locations in Brandywine and Suitland. The coalition, which is open to all those interested in drug treatment ministry, will hold its next full meeting on Feb. 16. | 
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