Achieving spiritual wellness
Rev. Taylor seeks spiritual component within the communityBy ANGELA BURCH Messenger staff writer
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Church launches anti-drug prayer walk next week in Pleasant Valley
By ANGELA BURCH
Messenger staff writer
The Rev. Madai Taylor and members of the Agape Church Wheel of Compassion Ministry and the community are literally taking the message that drugs are not welcome in the Pleasant Valley neighborhood to the streets.
Beginning on Monday, Taylor will lead a seven-day prayer walk encompassing the neighborhood.
"For at least an hour, we're going to walk through our neighborhood and simply pray," he said. "This is also to let those people who are in drug trafficking know that the neighborhood is still vigilant in its stance against drugs and drug trafficking in this area."
The aggressive campaign against drugs and selling drugs in the community began in April 2008 when Taylor spent 30 days preaching on the corner of 10th Avenue Southwest and 12th Street Southwest about the dangers of drugs.
"As a result of what we did last summer, we have seen a profound difference in this neighborhood," he said. "What we have noticed is that there is a shift in drug trafficking and how drugs are sold in this area. We don't see the usual kinds of open display of drugs being sold on the streets."
Taylor said he knows drug trafficking still occurs in the neighborhood, but the drug dealers are more aware of the vigilance of the community's citizens.
"What I've been getting from people in the neighborhood is that the drug traffickers are very concerned now that they're being watched and scrutinized more severely," he said. "I believe if we stop right now doing what we're doing, those who are selling drugs will think it's over with and will continue as usual. This is to continue with letting those people know that this neighborhood is not a safe haven for them to peddle drugs and endanger the lives of our children."
Taylor stressed the fact that drug problems are not isolated to the Pleasant Valley neighborhood.
"It's not a Pleasant Valley problem, it's not a black problem, it's not a gender problem, it's a Fort Dodge problem," he said.
Anyone interested in walking in the prayer walk is welcome, Taylor said. And for those who don't walk, he said prayers are still important.
"We're asking everyone to pray that God will be on the street with us and that we would continue to be a success in this area with what we're trying to do."
Contact Angela Burch at (515) 573-2141 or aburch@messengernews.net
It takes more than one person to bring about change. When everyone gets involved, that's when the Rev. Madai Taylor said change will happen.
Some of his tactics are outward - such as preaching for 30 days last April or preparing to embark on a seven-day prayer walk through the Pleasant Valley neighborhood - his message Wednesday was for people to look inward first.
"When we begin to look at life, we have to understand there are circumstances that occur daily that are out of our control," Taylor said. "But the one thing we can do is determine how we think about them and determine how these situations will affect our lives."
Taylor spoke to a group of more than 40 during the Life Enrichment Senior Series at Friendship Haven. His topic was creating a better community through spiritual wellness.
"The better we are doing spiritually, the more prosperous we are, the more productive we are and the happier we are," he said. "Spiritual wellness has a lot to do with attitude - a lot to do with how we are thinking about ourselves."
The mission spearheaded by Taylor to combat drugs in the Pleasant Valley neighborhood and ultimately the entire community has sparked public interest in the situation.
When asked by an audience member specifically about the drug problem in Fort Dodge, he compared the problem to an onion.
"It's layered, one layer after another," he said. "I think that people, in many ways, are trying to escape life through drugs."
He also pointed to what he referred to as a "serious break- down in families where children have no type of spiritual foundation, no teaching or training" as a major impact.
In an attempt to mend that break down, the AGAPE church holds an Early Intervention and Prevention program at 5 p.m. every Thursday night for kids ages 11 through 17.
"Our number one target is to educate our kids. We go to Web sites and find everything that relates to drugs, we have people from Community and Family Resources, people from the police and sheriff's department who talk to the kids," he said. "We do everything we can to help the kids not become a victim of drugs and drug trafficking."
Taylor's speech was well received by Leola McKinley, a Friendship Haven resident.
"It was great. It was great that he described what the church is doing and what they are doing in the community," she said. "If a few more of us would be willing to stand behind them, it would be a wonderful thing."
Promoting wellness and improving quality of life by helping older adults stay active and vital is the purpose behind the Less is More series. The series of speakers began in October 2008 and has focused on the six different aspects of wellness - intellectual, social, emotional, physical, spiritual and vocational.
Organizers agreed the series has given people a different perspective on what it means to be well.
"A lot of people are coming away with a whole different view of what spiritual wellness is," said Dorothy Griffin, of Trinity Healthy Living, one of the sponsors of the series. "It's really broadened people's view on how it's a whole, complete package."
Contact Angela Burch at (515) 573-2141 or aburch@messengernews.net
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Anderson
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04-28-09 12:45 PM
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Hooray for Reverend Taylor! Help him, don't knock him. He's a breath of fresh air - long needed - if you all would just open the windows of your mind and smell it.
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boatassembler
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04-24-09 8:31 PM
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And are you denying that alcohol has led to an addiction to booze by some? What do you propose? Give the alcoholic even easier access to the alcohol? Like I stated I'm not against drinking if it's controlled. But many cannot.
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boatassembler
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04-24-09 8:28 PM
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Joe: reread rrecon comments. Are you gonna deny that needing drugs and the money for them haven't led to the problems rrecon mentioned? The answer is not to give an addict more drugs. It's to get him off the drugs he's addicted to. Making them easier for him to get still means he needs the money to get them. And if he has no money how do you think he will get it? If he's addicted he just can't wait til some money "shows" up. He'll get it anyway he can, regardless of the law.
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rrecon
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04-24-09 9:47 AM
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This is not just about the abuse of marijuana or alcohol or the legalization of those drugs. Like it or not Fort Dodge is plauged by numberous problems and illegal drug activitey is just one of those problems. Illegal drugs is NOT just limited to marijuana alone but includes Meth, and a host of other illegal subtances which is readily available on the streets of our community. This activity affects each and everyone of us within the community in some way or form. Home invasions (burgalaries) can be traced back to junkies stealing property to get money so they can get thier drugs. Families are torn apart, people are killed , parents are separated. children suffer because of this activity. are drugs worth the price that is being paid? are you safe? it's so easy to sit back and do nothing. Get involved with your community.
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JohnDorian
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04-24-09 8:53 AM
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the abuse of marijuana is far more benign than the abuse of alcohol
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boatassembler
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04-24-09 12:02 AM
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AND LEGALIZING DRUGS WILL JUST INCREASE DRUG ABUSES
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boatassembler
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04-24-09 12:01 AM
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legalization never works. We legalized alcohol and we have more alcoholics now than ever before. I'm not saying alcohol should be illegal or that you shouldn't drink; just that you will always have trouble with people abusing it. Legalizing it just makes it easier to obtain and abuse.
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Aaronzuriel
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04-23-09 12:08 PM
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Of course not... "It's not a Pleasant Valley problem, it's not a black problem, it's not a gender problem, it's a Fort Dodge problem," he said. It's about the fact it's PUBLIC HEALTH v a huge black market drug industry that could... poof disappear with a combination of de criminalization, legalslization and realize it's a public health problem and not a criminal justice. Imagine.. hemp, if you will for the farmers and theclothiers, the paper makers.. and gosh medicinal marijuana????
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