The Urban Church and the Drug Culture

by Andrew Jones

"I have learned the junk equation. Junk is not . . . a means to increased enjoyment of life. Junk is not a kick. It is a way of life."-William S. Burroughs (1)

James* is a young man in his mid-twenties. He spends most of his day hanging out on the 3500 block of Kensington Avenue. James gets his meals from a Franciscan mission right on the Avenue, and gets hits of crack directly behind the street in "Needle Alley," as it's known locally. His only job is pimping for his wife Mary, who sells her body to support their mutual drug habit and their two young children. James and Mary are constantly waiting to go into a city-run drug rehabilitation program. The last time I spoke to James, he had moved into a derelict house and was waiting for ninety days to lapse before claiming squatters' rights. Then the city would give him a $1500 renovation grant.

Robert is around thirty years of age. He spent one day in grade school before being removed to a "special" school - he never told me why. Robert is illiterate and takes prescribed medication since he has been diagnosed as having "schizoid tendencies." He has been living in cheap hotels, boarding houses or shelters for some years, using money from accident compensation to buy crack. When the money from his legal settlement or menial jobs ran out each month, Robert would steal. He told me he had stolen three televisions from his mother, the only person to whom he still seemed close. Robert spent sixty-seven days in a drug rehabilitation program, then got a job stacking shelves in a supermarket. The boss accused him of not working hard enough, so Robert quit to sell pretzels. The last I heard, Robert was again "chasing the bag."

Crack in Kensington

James, Mary and Robert, although different in many ways, are united in their addiction to cocaine/crack and in being sometime residents of Kensington, Philadelphia. Kensington, with a population of 65,000, (2) is in many ways typical of many U.S. inner city situations: it is in a state of economic decline with the resultant unemployment and decay of housing. But also it possesses a broad ethnic make-up. East Kensington is mostly white, whereas West Kensington is Afro-American and Hispanic. Indeed, West Kensington is 95 percent Puerto Rican, the largest Hispanic area in the whole city. In recent years, significant numbers of Southeast Asians have been moving into the area to further enrich the ethnic mix of the neighborhood. However, racial tensions run high: only a small part of the district is integrated and of late there have been a series of racially-motivated attacks. A group of white men indiscriminately beat an innocent Afro-American male with golf clubs, following an attack on one of their girlfriends. I have encountered Hispanic children at a younger age avoiding Afro-American children because "they smell. "

The neighborhood has become one of the centers in Philadelphia for the drug trade and, consequently, drug abuse. All kinds of drugs are available on the streets but none more lethal than crack cocaine. In 1987, out of a total of 16,962 admissions to an emergency room in Philadelphia for substance abuse, 4,296 were for cocaine abuse. Alcohol in combination with other drugs came in second with 2,816 mentions. (3) Similarly, the percent distribution of arrests for drug law violations involving cocaine/heroin, as opposed to other narcotics, has risen from 16 percent in 1980 to 56 percent in 1987. (These figures are from the Northeast section of the US). (4) Kensington also bears the stigma of being the focal point for "crack" (amphetamines) production for the Northeastern US

The History of Cocaine

Cocaine (5) is usually categorized as a natural stimulant (along with tea, coffee and betel). Its origins are found in South America, particularly Peru, where the coca plant has been intensively cultivated since at least 1000 A.D. The Incas accorded it high religious significance as a symbol of strength, endurance, and fertility, and would use it as an offering to the gods. The plant was used extensively by the Spanish conquerors as a means of paying Indian slaves. This continued, despite protests from the Roman Catholic Church.

In the nineteenth century, cocaine was isolated from the coca and soon was introduced to Europe as a local anesthetic for minor operations. However, with this indubitably positive usage came abuse within the wealthier classes of Europe, who discovered its euphoric effects. Its confinement to the upper classes was due to their access to physicians and their wider knowledge due to educational opportunities. The US had its first widespread taste of coca in commercial folk medicine and soft drinks, most notably Coca-Cola. However, this usage was curtailed with the passing of the Pure Food and Drug Laws (1906).

Cocaine was the handmaiden to heroin during the 1960s. Its main use was to be mixed with heroin in what was known as a "speedball." The late seventies saw cocaine become a fashionable designer drug among the wealthy and the entertainment set. However, by the late eighties cocaine has become the main street drug used across classes. Addicts told me the heroin is only used by "old men" who cannot take the "rush" that cocaine generates.

The growth of cocaine addiction has been caused by the development of "crack," a cheap derivative of cocaine whereby the impurities of the mother drug are removed. Crack produces a far more intense high which lasts anywhere from five to ten minutes. A vial of crack can be bought on the streets for around $5.00 - one "hit" and you are addicted. The addictive craving is so strong that it over-rides all other basic human drives such as hunger, thirst and sex. I was told by one addict that while he was still on the way "up" after a hit, he was already thinking of how to get the next one. Therein lies the devastating nature of crack cocaine - the intense psychological dependency it produces. Withdrawal from the drug produces few, if any, physical effects but the intensity of psychological craving is often viewed as being insurmountable. Tiredness and depression are frequent consequences of withdrawal.

Cocaine can be snorted so that it enters the bloodstream through the nasal membranes; it can be injected intravenously for a quicker high; it can be smoked using a "pipe" or mixed with ether and inhaled (this is known as "freebasing"). A cocaine high is usually associated with toxic psychosis which " . . . involves vivid auditory and visual hallucinations, paranoid thinking, an inability to see relationships, a loosening of associations, and changes in emotional responses. The senses, however, remain clear; there is no blurring of vision for example." (6)

What are the roots of the drug problem in Kensington? I will outline first the theological reason and then, in the light of this, the social reason. The two are dynamically linked.

The God-Substitute

When we turn to our theological analysis, we are in large part talking about all men and women, in all socio-economic situations, at all times. Scripture affirms to us that men and women were created good, designed for fellowship and intimate relationship with God (Gen. 1 & 2). However, with the advent of the Fall, sin brings about radical separation both from God and from one another. Adam and Eve hide from God (Gen. 3:8) and subsequently in Genesis 4 we have the first account of murder in Scripture. This pattern of rebellion against God and the resulting social schism provides the backdrop for much of the Old Testament. All the time God is working out his purposes of redemption and continues to presence himself among his covenant people, but generally mankind is far from him.

Romans 1 outlines more specifically the results of the Fall within mankind - a constant repression of God's revelation within and without themselves which results in substituting idols for the true God. Consequently, the Lord gives humanity over to their own wicked desire. Therefore, each human being is created for fellowship with God and deep-down knows it (cf. Pascal's "God-shaped vacuum") yet persistently puts something or someone else in God's place. This someone or something will take different shapes depending on an individual's or community's situation. For the stockbroker, it may be insider trading to generate more money; for the sixteen-year-old in the ghetto, it maybe drug-dealing. Both, at root, have the same sin problem - both substitute for God.

It is at this point that the social roots of the drug problem become evident. Why does street trading and street abuse of drugs take place in the inner city and not in the suburbs? Suburban drug abuse tends to be "clean," done very discreetly behind closed doors whereas urban abuse is very much above ground. In Kensington, children pass walking "Just Say No" commercials, wasted through drug abuse, on street corners each day, yet still get drawn into the cycle of abuse and dealing. Why?

The answer must lie in the environmental factors which contribute to the way sin manifests itself in their lives and communities. Apart from existing in a tense racial situation, the residents of Kensington also have to cope with an onerous burden of unemployment. In the white areas, it tends to be around 12 percent whereas in the other areas of the neighborhood it can climb to 25-40 percent. (7) The loss of industry in the area is the catalyst for this unemployment.

Once the neighborhood goes into decline, less and less investment takes place and hence less and less money stays within the community. Housing prices decline as those who can move do so. Eventually slum landlords move in to make a profit from houses they need not maintain. Very soon, decay becomes obvious in the physical structure of the neighborhood. This produces despair in the lives of the residents. When despair sets in, people look anywhere for hope, and if God is rejected at this point, destructive substitutes emerge. At a personal level drugs can alleviate despair temporarily, and dealing in drugs can bring in money to support oneself and one's family. Moreover, drug dealing can bring in much-needed money for a depressed community.

Sin and Environment

In essence, I am saying that drug abuse and trading are a result of the Fall. The individual who engages in these activities is responsible for his or her actions before God. To abuse one's own body or to provide the means for another to do so is sin against God as well as the individual. Therefore, we must acknowledge sin as the root of the drug problem.

However, in light of our preceding social analysis, we must affirm that sin is shaped by environment. I am not arguing that environment produces sin, hence change the environment and sin will disappear. Rather, sin is present in each and every environment, but the shape of the environment will often determine the nature of the sin. Moreover, the environment itself is often the result of sin (e.g. unjust industrial/business practices, unjust housing/banking practices, etc.), and therefore the drug abuser or dealer is often sinned against as well as sinning.

The church, in strategizing a response to the drug issue, must hold all these causal factors in balance. A failure to hold the individual responsible will result in a lack of repentance and a continuation of sin. Conversely, a failure to give due weight to the environment will perpetuate injustice, which in turn will perpetuate despair and powerlessness. Consequently, sin will continue to manifest itself in the same old ways.

Just as it is important to have a clear idea of the roots of the narcotics problem, so it is important to have a clear grasp of its effects. Again this prevents us from producing a simplistic response within the church. The effects of the drug trade in a given community are as diverse as they are devastating. I have already mentioned the over-riding craving for cocaine that is present in the user - the most immediate effect, then, is in the physical frame of the addict. Food becomes an expensive, unnecessary inconvenience and hence weight loss sets in with the perpetual user. It becomes very difficult to maintain a job as the high is constantly pursued. If a job is kept for a period while intense drug abuse is taking place, all the earnings are spent buying drugs. Some addicts will have cars or houses. If they are paid for, they will be sold to raise capital for more drugs. More often than not, they are in the process of being bought. Payments will fail and the property will be repossessed. Many rent rooms; rent arrears build up and, as tenants, they are evicted.

A direct consequence of this sequence of events is homelessness among users of hard drugs. The derelict houses of Kensington Avenue and its environs have become home as well as shooting gallery for a lot of the addicts on the street. When the situation becomes this desperate, the nuclear family of the user will have probably left. The church is then faced not only with broken individuals who possess nothing, but also with the task of reconciling broken marriages and families. This latter task is especially complex due to the patterns of dependency which may have built up over years, as well as the deep-seated suspicion and mistrust which remain in the drug-free spouse.

The Criminal Repercussions

When the addict has both lost a job and the ability to hold down another, alternative sources of income have to be sought to support the habit. These usually come down to two activities - theft or prostitution. Theft occurs at all levels. Fellow addicts are robbed as are other street people. The mentally ill are particularly vulnerable. Furthermore, the incidence of burglaries will rise in a neighborhood once drugs have a foothold. Similarly, muggings will become more frequent.

Prostitution is also a significant illicit source of income among both sexes. Female prostitution appears to be more frequent, with male addicts taking a cut of the profits in exchange for their pimping services. The connection of drug abuse to crime is borne out by statistical data. In 1986, 17.2 percent of all prison inmates in the US committed their offense while under the influence of narcotics. The percentage of those in prison for violent robbery while under the influence of drugs was 20.7 percent whereas for non-violent larceny/theft, the percentage rose to 23.6 percent. (8) Moreover, 79.6 percent of all prison inmates had used some drug at some time in the past and 63.4 percent had used some drug regularly in the past. (9) This is further collaborated by the statistic that 18.6 percent of prison inmates had daily used a major drug in the month prior to their offense. Of these daily users, 13 percent were imprisoned for "crimes for gain." (10)

The fact that sex is now brought into the drug equation immediately raises the risk of HIV transmission. This is compounded by the continued sharing of needles within the drug community. When the only thought in an addict's head is to get cocaine into the system as quickly as possible, a clean needle becomes an unnecessary luxury. Groups of two or three people may share a needle.

Already, it is obvious how the breakdown of the individual and the family affects the wider community. However, the consequences continue to ripple outwards in the neighborhood. A culture of fear develops among those not involved in abuse or dealing, to the extent that eyes are closed to its continuance. This is understandable in view of the physical intimidation that those who oppose the drug trade receive. Two community workers in Kensington - Rev. Floyd Naters- Gamarra and Efraim Rois - have both been beaten for their stand. (11)

But while the dealers strike fear into the hearts of the adults, they often inspire admiration in the hearts of the youth of the neighborhood. The dealer is the one who possesses power and wealth in the community. They may even exercise some philanthropy towards the community. Hence, in an environment short on positive role models, the dealer becomes the standard of success. I was told that when a teacher asked her class what they wanted to be when they grew up, 80 percent of them had responded "drug dealers."

Finally, the rule of law is undermined. The police become hopelessly over-extended in a community infested with the drug culture. In Kensington, residents told me that it took the police an average of one hour to respond to a call unless a firearm is involved. Therefore, street justice comes into play and the community's sense of powerlessness is again underlined. On the other hand, stories of police corruption are not too difficult to find - police being paid off by drug dealers as well as prostitutes. Again, the community's confidence in the law is undermined.

The situation sounds desperate, and in many ways it is. However, God has not abandoned Kensington and he has not abandoned any of the urban communities suffering under the burden of the drug culture. Throughout the neighborhood he has his people coming together in worshipping communities to confess that Jesus is Lord. Many of them are active in bringing the good news about Jesus Christ to the users and dealers in their districts.

The Christian Hope

The biblical motif which would best seem to address the urban community blighted by drugs is "hope." Hope functions at two levels within Scripture. It refers at one level to Christ, the object of hope, and at another to the believer's objective activity of hoping. The two are inextricably linked. We can define "hope" as follows, ". . . to look forward expectantly for God's future activity." (12) Hope is clearly linked with the inauguration of the Kingdom of God by Jesus. The coming of the Kingdom recorded in the Gospels is the coming of the reign of God over all humanity. It is brought uniquely by Christ since he himself is the King and proclaims a whole new order for the whole of humanity. The Kingdom is at once present and future.

The Kingdom of God is a present reality primarily because Christ the King is himself present. This is evidenced by Christ's continual battle with Satan in the Gospel accounts. There is a persistent power struggle going on (e.g. Luke 4:1-13) whereby Christ the King defeats Satan as one who wishes to usurp his authority. Christ's casting out of demons reveals Christ as King and is prototypical of his final eschatological reign when all things shall finally be brought under his rule.

Christ further proclaims the coming of the Kingdom of God in his words and deeds. He clearly identifies himself with the Old Testament's hoped-for liberator (Luke 4:17-21, Matt. 11:2-6). Indeed, all the signs that the messianic liberator has arrived are associated with the liberation of the marginalized in society, e.g. the blind, the lame, the deaf, the lepers, the poor. Christ fleshes out this claim to fulfill prophecy by his actions; he heals the sick and fraternizes with the poor. The Kingdom brings hope for the hopeless. Matthew 12:21 specifically identifies Christ as the one in whom the nations will hope. Hence, the present reality of the Kingdom becomes relevant to our urban communities. Christ brings hope because he brings a liberating salvation to the nations. This is achieved at the cross where God's justice is satisfied and grace is extended to all kinds and conditions of people. So the presence of the Kingdom brings hope to be realized in the present.

There is, however, a future aspect to the Kingdom as well. This is illustrated by the defeat of Satan. While Satan's teeth are drawn, he still manages to exercise a degree of power. For example, following Satan's unsuccessful temptation of Christ, Matthew informs us that he left Jesus until an opportune time (4:13 NIV). This is paralleled in Christ's casting out of demons. He exercises definitive control over them, but others remain active. Indeed, the rest of the New Testament indicates that this will be the situation until the final consummation of the Kingdom (cf. Rev. 20:10).

The Hope to Come

Furthermore, Christ's miracles are also signs that the Kingdom is yet to come as well as being signs that the Kingdom is present. The paradigmatic instances here would be the resurrections Christ performs within the Gospels. All three individuals involved, while being truly brought back from the dead, were destined to die again. Ridderbos comments, "They (i.e. the miracles) indicate the coming of the Kingdom and point to the cosmic palingenesis . . . But they are not the beginning of the palingenesis . . ." (13) In other words, they are merely foretastes of the cosmic renewal of all things which Christ alludes to in Matthew 19:28. The miracles are the down payment of a far greater fulfillment when all death, pain, and suffering will be put aside conclusively. Christ's own life, death, and ultimate resurrection is relevant here. Following suffering, Christ is given a new, glorified, incorruptible body which becomes the hope of all believers.

Paul continues this theme of future hope in Romans 8:18-21 where he speaks of the groaning of creation as it waits for its liberation from decay. Then again in I Corinthians 15, Paul uses the resurrection of Christ to demonstrate that one day all saints, whether dead or alive, will be resurrected with new bodies. This ultimate conquest of death is put in specific Kingdom terms by the apostle in I Corinthians 15:24. The end will come, says Paul, when Christ hands over the Kingdom to his Father after he has destroyed all other authorities and powers.

This final state of the Kingdom is pictured in Revelation 21 as the new Jerusalem, the eschatological city of God. The one seated on the throne proclaims "I am making everything new" (v. 5 NIV). Jerusalem is pictured as a place of shalom and healing where Christ is the focal point. John tells us that "nothing impure will ever enter it" (v. 27); indeed, "there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (v. 4). So it becomes obvious that the church in the present age lives in a state of eschatological tension - the Kingdom has come but the Kingdom is yet to come. Both aspects of this tension should fill the urban church of Jesus Christ with hope as it ministers to the drug addict, as well as to broken communities.

Eschatological Tension, Urban Reality

The church itself can take hope from the fact that it lives in the age of salvation. The King has come and has laid down his life to buy her. Very often, an embattled, fortress-like mentality can grip believers in difficult situations, yet the present Kingdom brings godly optimism. However, the future aspect of the Kingdom provides the church, ministering in a drug-saturated neighborhood, with a theology of failure. Living with the reality of the "not yet" means that there will be pain and suffering. Members of the church may see family members and friends caught up in the web of narcotics. In the agony of these circumstances, the believer does not give up hope but rather groans with the creation and cries "Amen. Come Lord Jesus." So the gospel of the kingdom of God brings hope for success and hope in failure.

But this same gospel offered by the "in-between" church brings hope to the despairing, hopeless life of the addict. It says to him or her that there is something beyond the next "hit" of crack. Looking back, it points to the cross of Christ where salvation and redemption were bought, yet looking forward, it points to the final judgment and consummation of all creation. The addict is presented with the power of Christ to liberate from physical/psychological bondage and, more importantly in light of our earlier analysis, to liberate from the search for "God-substitutes." However, the future aspect of the Kingdom means the addict is given no easy answers or cheap grace. The need for repentance is stressed and the expectation of struggle is made clear. Always, renewal of all things is in view - the renewal of the craving for a fix, of a wasted body, of exhausted veins, of damaged dignity.

Finally, the church ministers hope to a despairing community. The eschatological vision of a new city can be proclaimed with confidence - a city free from dealers on every corner, a city free from prostitution and theft. A city created by God himself and ruled over by the Lamb, Christ. But this future city where the Kingdom is handed over to the Father also brings hope in the "now" city of Philadelphia. Because the Kingdom is here, social transformation is possible as the people of God mobilize in a community. Their activity in renewing their present communities in the name of Christ, both physically and spiritually, is a prototype of all that the heavenly city will be.

Hope and Ministry Models

How best can this "theology of hope" be implemented practically in the urban church's ministry to those involved in drugs? There are many models of ministry already functioning across the world and I do not presume to suggest anything which is radically innovative.

Mobilizing the Church. The activity within the church can center around a number of suggestions. Prayer is crucial in the task of mobilizing a church to action and a necessity in waging war against the powers of darkness which enslave individuals and communities. Therefore, the urban church could make regular occasions to come together as a body of believers to pray specifically about the drug problem. These times of prayer could become times of mutual support and encouragement, where the problems of different blocks in the neighborhood are shared and prayed about. This could happen on a systematic basis so that the whole district is prayed through every few months. Drug dealers can be prayed for as individuals, as can drug abusers and others caught in the web. Moreover, smaller groups of believers living within similar blocks of a city could gather weekly or even daily to pray for their living area.

However, there is a need for information and education about the drug issue. Sometimes fear is generated because of a lack of facts about drug users. Church members may take a "stand-off" approach for the wrong reasons. I am not suggesting that there is not biblical wisdom in keeping a safe distance at times. Rather, I am suggesting that drug addicts are avoided even at a superficial level for fear of catching diseases or being attacked. They are relegated to an almost sub-human, untouchable level.

The church needs to listen to current addicts and past addicts speak of their fear and alienation. This can be facilitated best in small group situations where medical facts can be communicated by those qualified to do so, as well as experiential information. Such an approach not only breaks down fear of individuals but also galvanizes believers to take action. The testimonies of converted addicts are also useful at this stage. Many of us have little faith in the promises of God in Scripture, so it helps us in our weakness to see tangible examples of God's mercy. This generates increased appreciation of the powerful grace of God and deepens hope. The church is not impotent because the God it serves is not impotent; the gospel does change lives.

So, once the church is praying and is informed, how should it go about ministering to those living in the drug culture? Two areas of ministry have to be addressed. The first of these is the street. Large numbers of addicts live on the streets for the reasons outlined earlier. If an addict does not live on the street, then certainly large amounts of time will be spent here because this is where drugs can be bought and sold. Therefore, this must be the initial point of contact for the church with the addict.

Now it would be easy in one sense for hardy members of the worshipping community to flood the streets clutching clipboards and primed with E.E. every Saturday morning. But this would not appear to be the best method! The street is a place where suspicions are very easily aroused, hence an invading "army of the Lord" is more likely to frighten addicts away than draw them in.

A better approach would be for an urban church, serious about reaching drug addicts, to set aside an individual (or maybe two or three) specifically for this task. Such individuals would be selected on the basis of their spiritual character and gifts with people. They would spend significant portions of their time just hanging out on the street getting to know addicts and dealers as people. (14) Obviously, this is not an easy task and would require many patient months of gently dismantling barriers of suspicion and hostility. However, it would seem a valid way of taking the church (and with it Christ) to the addict rather then requiring the reverse. Street workers could eat and even sleep in the same derelict buildings as the junkies and, in doing so, model incarnational evangelism. But once contacts are made, relationships established and an addict expresses interest in the gospel with a desire to be free of the habit, where does the church move next?

Restoration and Rehabilitation. We then come to restoration and rehabilitation. Once an addict expresses a desire and commitment to become drug free, the church has two options: either send him or her away to a specialist drug rehabilitation program or take on the rehabilitation itself. Both models have something to be said for them. The former means that addicts can very often be taken out of the environment which constantly presses temptation at them. It provides space as well as specialized counseling which may be necessary to sort through the deep-seated reasons for their addiction. This approach also allows the addict to live in community with others who are seeking to be free of their drug abuse.

The Keswick Colony of Mercy in New Jersey operates a system whereby members of the program are totally responsible for running their own community. They operate a system of mutual accountability whereby each is responsible for different aspects of the community's life. This functions in community groups of around ten men, and when one fails in a responsibility, the others meet to discuss and implement what they feel to be a reasonable sanction. Staff workers on the program are largely observers who only intervene in extreme circumstances and who provide input regarding Bible studies, etc.

The possibility of the local body of believers itself dealing with rehabilitation also warrants attention. Ideally, an addict with a sincere desire to change could be placed within a Christian home. Obviously this would be small scale and the families, couples, or groups of singles involved would have to be very clear with regard to the risks involved. Regular medical checkups would be a prerequisite for this kind of program, but it does provide significant opportunities to demonstrate the love of Christ. Members of the household act as role models and encouragers. Again, it may be necessary to set aside certain members for full-time ministry since members of the individual homes will not be available twenty-four hours a day. The full-time worker could be involved with work therapy or skills training. The advantage of this model is that it provides a network of Christian relationships into which the addict can fit in a familiar context.

A model midway between these two is operated by the Kensington Bible Church and Outreach Center. The center owns a house which is used as a halfway stage between their sixty-seven day drug rehabilitation program and reintegration into the wider community. The "Half-Way House" can accommodate up to five men at any one time and provides an atmosphere of mutual accountability as well as a base for job/apartment searches.

Reaching the Wider Community. Finally, we turn to examine how the urban church can bring the message of hope to the wider community which is not directly involved in the drug culture but is inevitably bound up with it. Again the church can operate at a variety of levels. A level which demands high visibility is that of overt public protest against the presence of the drug industry in a neighborhood. Covenant Community Church in West Philadelphia formed SOMAD (South of Market Against Drugs), which is a protest group embracing all kinds of members of the community, Christian and non-Christian. The church provides a clear voice of justice in a broken community and is a focal point for community protest. Relationships develop within the protest group which inevitably lead to opportunities to share the gospel. When a church becomes involved in protests such as these, it will be asked the reason for its hope of change.

The church can also be involved in diaconal ministries to those who have been affected by the drug trade. Families which may have lost a main breadwinner due to drug addiction or dealing can be assisted in the name of Christ. Their children can be educated and befriended by the church or its sister groupings. Again these are opportunities to share the love and grace of Christ with those whom our society would normally ignore. The present Kingdom of God encourages the church to seek change now but its attempts are tempered with godly realism as it appreciates the future aspect of the Kingdom. The coming Kingdom gives hope that the present fallen reality will one day be changed. God's urban people join with God's urban people through all ages - they long for a better country - a heavenly one which God has prepared for them.

Andrew Jones currently serves the Church of England as the curate of Christ Church, Winchester.

From Urban Mission, published by Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, September 1994. Used by permission.

Endnotes
*All names have been changed to protect the individuals involved.

1. William S. Burroughs, 'Junky' (New York: Penguin, 1977), p. xvi.

2. For the statistics and ethnic breakdown in this section I am indebted to Susan E. Pierce, "Climbing the Mountain in Kensington," The Witness 69 No. 2 (1986): 6-9.

3. National Institute on Drug Abuse, Statistical Series 1 No. 7 Annual Data 1987, (DHSS Publication No. (ADM) 88-1584,1988), Table 4.21, p. 91.

4. Katherine M. Jamieson & Timothy J. Flanagan, eds., Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 1988 (US Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC: USGPO, 1989), Table 4.26, pp. 518-519.

5. Here I am indebted to Richard H. Blum, "A History of Stimulants" found in Richard H. Blum and Associates, Society and Drugs, Social and Cultural Observations (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc., 1970), pp. 99-114.

6. Weisman, Drug Abuse and Drug Counselling, (New York: Jason Aronson, 1974), p. 90.

7. For the statistics and ethnic breakdown in this section I am indebted to Susan E. Pierce, "Climbing the Mountain in Kensington," The Witness 69 No. 2 (1986):7.

8. Katherine M. Jamieson & Timothy J. Flanagan, eds., Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 1988, Table 6.45, p. 624.

9. Ibid., Table 6.46, p. 624.

10. Ibid., Table 6.49, p. 625.

11. Susan E. Pierce, "Climbing the Mountain in Kensington":7.

12. Sinclair B. Ferguson, David F. Wright, J. I. Packer, eds. New Dictionary of Theology, (Downers Grove: lnterVarsity Press, 1988), p. 321.

13. Herman Ridderbos, The Coming of the Kingdom, (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1962), p. 119.

14. Marcia Hopler, "Hangin' Out," Urban Mission Vol. 7 No. 2 (1989):23-29.