PULASKI COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Addiction does not discriminate.

It takes from whoever falls victim to it, until there is nothing left.

Chance Sweet knows that pain first hand.

“18 years of going to jail. I quit the meth, the pills, the needle. I became homeless and everything. I’ve been at rock bottom,” Sweet said.

Sweet found sobriety by rebuilding his faith and bringing him home to Kentucky to help others living through the same struggle.

That led to the creation of Leap of Faith Outreach.

“We started just over two years ago in the basement of the church, which we outgrew in two meetings. Now we sometimes get from 100-400+ people, says Sweet

“They come from all over the place to fight addiction because our region, our state our nation is really suffering from this.”

Every third Saturday, hundreds of people flock to Barnesburg Baptist Church to make the pain go away.

Food, music, prayer.

A full day of fellowship that has helped people like James Horne heal.

“I was addicted to the drug amphetamines for 20 years…I’d lost children, I’d lost family. I’d buried almost every member of my family. I’d lost everything but the clothes on my back,” Horne said.

“May 2023 I came into rehab here in Kentucky. When we came in I had about two weeks of cleanup. I remember coming in and the atmosphere, you could just feel the love in the place.”

Love has been the medicine so many have had to take the Leap of Faith.

People like Adam Burks who may well not be alive today without this community outreach.

“On July 24th I was working in Tennessee doing a job installing tanks. I hit that low spot and had no intention of coming home except in a body bag,” Burks said.

“I got down on my knees that night (at the Leap of Faith) and it was the most peaceful calming feeling that I’ve ever had in my life that came over me that night. I had probably 10-15 people around me with their hands on me and just praying .”

As Sweet says, addiction doesn’t discriminate, but neither does belief.

His outreach has expanded beyond the state and aims to touch as many people as possible through their personal struggles.

“We have testimonies of how people have overcome these issues and these problems because at the end of the day, somebody is dying to hear what somebody else has been through. That could be what gets them through that day.”

“When you have hundreds of people who were broken, who were beaten down and they’re in here raising their hands. Everybody gets something out of it. These people are down enough that we get them in here and we love them.”

The next Leap of Faith Outreach rally is set for Saturday, November 16th at 5:30pm at 1200 Barnesburg Road in Somerset.

To learn more about Leap of Faith Outreach, click here.