The Meth danger

I finished up a story the other day that will appear in next week's issue of the Index. Sometimes I'll get ideas for stories from other people or just perusing the papers. Other times it can be a topic I know we need to address. An example of that is an article on MySpace that will also be in the Aug. 3 issue.

Other times, I'll find ideas from a report built around the associational missionaries in Georgia. This report is sent out periodically and contains a few words from the AMs about what is going on in their area, their needs and any prayer requests. One I got awhile back mentioned that Carrollton Baptist Association was going to take part in a summit on the Meth epidemic in that area.

I got interested and contacted Dan Dockery, the AM there. He put me in touch with a few other guys. My main contact for it became Jesse Hambrick, lead investigator for the Douglas County Sheriff's Department. What I learned scares me to death. I knew Meth was a big problem, especially in rural areas. But I had no idea just what it did to people and who is susceptible to it. Jesse has written a book about it and maintains a website that goes into much more detail, including several testimonies from people who have struggled, and still struggle, with Meth addiction. It's something people rarely get away from.

When I taught high school, there was at least one time I remember a kid, a wrestler, getting caught with Ice. He was also a student in one of my classes. I never would have thought he was using the stuff.

This article wasn't like many we put in the paper. It's a wake-up to a real problem in our society that the church has to face. I'm hoping I communiated that in the way I wrote it.