The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Prayer walk takes aim at addiction
A die-hard group of Christians dedicated to addressing Northeast Ohio’s drug-addiction dilemmas gathered May 21 for a walk in the Headlands in hopes of praying their way into the hearts and minds of addicts there.
Organized in part by Eastlake resident Deborah Rickel, along with members of Life Point Church and Freedom Assembly of God — both in Mentor — the walk was inspired by the kind of pain and suffering Rickel, who lived in the Headlands for about 20 years (hence her choice of the walk’s location), knows all too well.
“My son was an addict for 20plus years, so I have a real heart for people who are struggling for their lives, and for their families who don’t know what to do,” she said following the walk in the rain.
She said that, although 60 people said they planned to join the group, fewer actually made it due to Sunday’s rainy disposition.
In all, there were about 10 walkers who joined in, one of whom came all the way from Middlefield Village.
Another participant who did not wish to be named said she learned about the walk on
Facebook and felt compelled to make the trip to participate.
“What brought me out was... God brought me out here,” she said. “I’ve been on the street, on drugs... But now I gave my life to Christ.”
She said she’s seen addiction creep up everywhere around her, even among the Amish population that calls much of the area around her town home.
“So we go out. We meet a lot of good people and just pray,” she said. “We open up the flood gates of Heaven and we just let it rain.”
She said that, as she walked with the others May 21, she could feel their prayers working.
“I feel as though God’s power will intervene and it will be healing in this town,” she said.
Rickel said she thinks many of society’s modern issues contribute to the ever-increasing addiction problems it faces, whether it’s heroin, opioid painkiller, alcohol or other substance abuse, or other, non-chemical addictions which grasp people all over Northeast Ohio and beyond.
“There are a lot of single-family homes today, a lot of financial need, a lot of despair and frustration,” she said. “It’s just a bad combination.” She said she helped organize Sunday’s walk, which she’ll likely follow with one in her current city of residence in the near future, so people with addiction issues know they’re not alone.
“I want people to know how deeply loved they are,” she said. “And I want them to know that people care and are willing to come out and pray for them.”
She said she has “a feeling of hope” after having completed the prayer walk.
Other participants agreed, like Mentor Headlands resident Janelle Unger.
“I felt love,” she said. “I felt like we were exactly where we were supposed to be.”
Unger said she came up with the acronym VIP - for Vigil, Intercession and Prayer - after coming to terms with the recent overdose-deaths of a number of people, including her 19-year-old great niece.
Another participant May 21, Amber Strnad, a Perry Township resident who’s known too many young people whose lives have ended or irreparably damaged by addiction, said she’s working to organize people from all over Northeast Ohio in the fight against it through her Fight Against Heroin initiative.
“I used to be very judgemental about addiction,” she said. “I didn’t understand addiction.”
But Strnad said that, as the problem has increased, and as she’s seen friends, siblings’ friends and others die at the hands of addiction to dangerous drugs, he whole perspective has changed and she now understands the need for understanding, caring and prayer.
“It takes a community to stand up and do something,” she said. “We need to have a conversation. We need to connect with people and let them know we care.”
She said she’s now organizing an event to be held at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Painesville Township featuring numerous resources for folks with addiction issues who want to turn their lives around, including testimony from past, and present, addicts, their families, counsellors and other concerned parties.
She said the event is scheduled Aug. 25 and 26.