Pastor Damian Tibbs speaks during Sunday’s Night of Hope: A Concert Against Heroin at Grace Fellowship Church.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
LIMA — Grace Fellowship Church was filled with the energetic Spirit of redemption and delivery as listeners raised their hands and voices in worshipful praise. An African American woman seated within the pews played the tambourine. A woman in her mid-forties hopped in her tan Birkenstocks to the beat of the drums which filled the church. In stark contrast, others seated in the pews sat sad and pensive, perhaps reflecting on their lives. One man rubbed his forehead.
The lyrics of the music spoke deeply to those in attendance: “My God is able to save and deliver and heal and restore anything that he wants to,” sang Worship Anyway with powerful vocals, touching the heartstrings of current and former drug addicts, and their families, in the audience.
“Finding a new life in God” is how Pastor Nathan Branim of Grace Fellowship Church said he personally escaped drug addiction. He served as Sunday’s Master of Ceremonies for Sunday’s concert “Night of Hope: A Concert Against Heroin.”
“My dad left us when I was 14 and I resorted to using alcohol and drugs (marijuana and acid) … and it just destroyed my life. At 16, I had a breakdown. My grandmother, who is a strong Christian, led me to the Lord and my life turned around: I graduated from high school in 1996, joined the Marine Corps and then came to Lima in 2001.”
Pastor Damian Tibbs spoke on stage. His young son seemed to represent a whole and fulfilled life today, and held his hand on the stage as he gave his testimony.
Against the backdrop of concert lights and band instruments waiting for the musicians to take the stage, Sharetta Smith, mayor of the city of Lima, stepped up to the clear Plexiglass podium, mic in her right hand, and read a proclamation naming Sunday the 28th day of August 2022 as “Night of Hope Day” in the City of Lima, Ohio. The proclamation included a plea asking all citizens to join in increasing awareness and understanding of drug use in our community and to support each other.
The organizers’ goals for the concert were to provide “guidance through faith and hope” and “bring resources to many in need of a light at the end of a tunnel,” Smith said.
Reach Shannon Bohle at 567-242-0399, by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @Bohle_LimaNews.
