Huntsville couple helps struggling women

Darlene Berry drove her vehicle up to the door of a crack house at the Butler Terrace housing project in October 1998, got out and walked inside not knowing what she might encounter.
   
But she was there on a mission  — to rescue Dee Garrett from a life of drugs that had robbed her of her job, her home, her self-esteem and even her children.
   
“I had met Darlene about two months before through another friend, and when I saw her (walk into the crack house), I thought I had met an angelic being,” said Garrett. “She asked me if I wanted to leave and get help and I did. She took my hand and led me out. She provided me with my immediate needs. She got me dry and safe and helped me more than anyone ever in the state of Alabama.”
   
Garrett, a single mother, had a successful career with Procter & Gamble and even taught Sunday School before ending up on skid row three years ago. 
   
Someone offered her a joint of marijuana, which was laced with crack cocaine, and she said she was “immediately hooked. It took complete control of my life. I tried to kill myself three times.”
   
But the persistence and patience of Darlene Berry helped Garrett get back on her feet and back in touch with her two daughters, ages 15 and 13, whom she hadn’t seen for two years.
   
Garrett is just one of many women the Berrys have helped in the last five years. They took Jesus’ message to heart when He said to sell what they had and give it to the poor. 
   
Five years ago, the Berrys sold their house, bought a motor home and quit their jobs so they could literally follow Jesus’ command.
   
With little financial backing and a whole lot of faith, the Berrys ventured into the ministry, not knowing what God wanted them to do  —  or how they would even survive in this economically driven society.
   
“God provided a buyer for our home and a 27-foot motor home,” said Darlene. “Everything we owned would have fit in most people’s hallway. Most people told us we were crazy.”
   
Today, the Berrys are founders of the Huntsville-based Lighthouse Christian Ministries, which helps women living in abusive or depend
   
Despite health problems ranging from Darlene’s diabetes to Brian’s stroke two years ago — and no health insurance — the couple’s faith has carried them into a world they never knew existed — drugs, alcohol, poverty, abuse and other situations where most “respectable people” would not dare venture.
   
After living for two years in the motor home, in 1997 they moved back into a house.
   
The fact their ministry is now stationary hasn’t stopped the Berrys from going into the highways to lend a hand.
   
“It’s really nothing we have done,” said Darlene. “It’s just the love of God reaching out to help those in need.
   
“It has been a real growing and learning experience for us. We’re in a ministry of encouragement and when people are in a crisis and don’t have anyone to turn to, we have the time to help them,” she added. “We just respond to needs.”