Covington County District Attorney Walt Merrell told those gathered at the annual Crossover Ministries appreciation banquet there is a war being waged in Covington County, and it’s bigger than drugs and bigger than Afghanistan or Iraq.

“It’s good versus evil,” he said. “We live in a world of darkness.”

Merrell said that Christians are like flashlights lighting the world and their light draws the Devil’s attention.

“We are beacons for the lost,” he said. “God’s light that shines through us draws the Devil’s attention.”

And sometimes, Merrell said, the Devil perseveres because humans do what they want, not what God wants.

“We are human,” he said. “We keep tearing down the hedge he tried to put up to protect us.

“God promises He will provide us with what we need,” he said. “But we go after what we want.

“We should pray without ceasing, but instead we fall asleep.

“He says seek him first, and we cry out at last result,” he said. “He tells us to love unconditionally, but we love conditionally.”

Merrell said the enemy’s top priorities are to steal, kill and destroy.

“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand,” he said. “The enemy is a master of division.”

Merrell said one of the top ways families are attacked is through divorce.

“Divorce is more prevalent,” he said. “When divorce happens, the devil has destroyed a child, stolen from a wife and killed a husband.”

Merrell said when we commit ourselves; the devil knows how to exploit us.

“He divides us in every station of live,” he said. “One of his greatest weapons is addiction.”

Merrell said the enemy uses addiction to divide and segregate families.

“He uses addiction to divided the Christian nation from the drug addict,” Merrell said. “A drug addict can only be one of two things – a Christian brother or lost.”

“They are our brothers and sisters,” he said. “We have the greatest commission ever given to mankind.”

Merrell asked the audience to consider what came to their minds when they thought of “crack head” or “meth head.”

“When you think of a crack head, do you think of a black man with gold teeth? When you think of a meth head, do you think of a man with no teeth,” he asked. “The only difference between you and drug addicts is one or two decisions. When we label people with a negative connotation, we help the enemy further divide. Crossover bridges the divide. Crossover says, ‘Come as you are.’ We don’t care about what lurks behind you.”

Merrell said the Crossover family needs support more than ever.

“We need you because the Devil sees the bright light of Crossover,” he said. “I see every day what the enemy does in this county. This ministry is on the front line fighting every day.”

Crossover Ministry will begin its 20th class May 16, and provides an addiction recovery ministry to people through a personal relationship with Christ. The program lasts eight months and includes a four-month residential care and four months of aftercare.

It costs $550 a month to feed the men and women; $3,100 for utilities for one month; $1,869 for transportation for the month. The cost for one client to complete the program is $8,884.

The ministry operates solely off of donations from local patrons and churches and the service it provides is free to the participants.

“I leave you the audience, with one final thought,” Merrell said. “Is Christ divided? Not in this house.”