Recently several of the ministers in the Graffiti Network have been thinking critically about how to minister effectively to individuals with addictions, specifically heroin addiction. I’m still learning, but here’s the strategy I’ve come to embrace:
Meet the need first
Build Relationships
Trust God to transform lives
This strategy has been shaped by firsthand experiences on the streets of the Bronx. This is the first of four blog entries sharing those stories.
MEET THE NEED FIRST
One day early in my experience of living and ministering in the Bronx, I was walking to the grocery store and saw a crowd of people. As I walked closer, I saw a man unconscious on the ground. His face was blue. I had recently received CPR training but never thought I would actually use it.
I reached for my breathing barrier which I had worn on a lanyard around my neck since my training. It wasn’t there. I paused, looked at the man’s arms, and saw holes dotted with blood. He was a heroin addict.
I didn’t feel safe giving him CPR, but I didn’t feel right not doing CPR. I thought,
Is my life more valuable than his?
Then I remembered across the street sat a tent. Several days each week, condoms and clean needles were distributed from below a red awning with the words Harm Reduction Center written in white.
I yelled across the street, “Do you have a breathing barrier?”
They did. Someone brought it to me.
I placed the clear plastic over the man’s cold, blue lips and began puffing breaths of air into his lungs.
His chest rose. Then it sank.
Time passed as I breathed over and over again. Eventually paramedics arrived.
On their cue, I subsided and removed the breathing barrier. The man looked better. Color had returned to his face, but he still lay unconscious.
The paramedic took a look at him, grabbed him by the shoulders, shook him, and yelled,
“Wake up!”
The man jumped to his feet!
All I could think was,
They didn’t teach me that technique in CPR Training!
Now imagine something that hopefully sounds silly.
What if I had walked up to the man lying on the ground and started lecturing him about drug use?
The man might have died.
What if I made a passionate plea for him to accept Jesus?
The man might have died.
Yes, the man needed Jesus, but in that moment, he needed air.
The first step to respond to individuals with addiction is Meet the Need First.
Recently, NYC Department of Mental Health and Hygiene has offered free Naloxone kits (commonly called Narcan) along with training to teach citizens to be first responders. Naloxone is a nasal spray that revives someone who overdoses. It most likely would have revived the man I encountered outside the supermarket. It is one simple way I can be prepared to Meet the Need First.
After all, A person can’t follow Jesus if they’re dead!
One of our Upside Down Principles states, “Meet needs with both hands of ministry: Relief and Release.” Relief work is the immediate response to need. It may involve the simple act of giving someone a sandwich, a coat for the cold, or a mattress on which to sleep. Our ministry center in the Bronx is providing Naloxone training as well as exploring new ways we can provide food and care packages to people in need. Ultimately, Relief Work provides a person what they need now, their earthly needs, so later we can provide what they will need for all eternity.
Release work sets people free from destructive habits, addictions, defeating behaviors, and stinking thinking.
The question is, how do we move from Relief Work to Release Work?