Faces Of New Bedford #91: Brian Dube

Meet Brian Dube, 43-year-old Pastor and Chaplain in charge of Spiritual Life at Teen Challenge Brockton.

Brian grew up in a healthy environment, with a family that loved and supported him. He, however, felt like he never quite fit in or connected with other kids. After transferring from a private catholic school to New Bedford High, that sense of disconnectedness became even broader. His desire to fit in and have friends led him to the party scene, filled with drinking and drugs, which led him on a slow downward spiral. This would affect the next 15 years of his life.

During that time, he had started a family and become successful in the Information Technology field that was booming during the nineties. Brian had splintered his life in half; the hardworking family man during the week and the party-filled bar hopper on the weekend. Being prescribed pain killers for the migraines he suffered from, his addiction then worsened from alcohol to prescription pills. He found himself at in all time low in 2007, when he suffered a drug induced seizure. He was at a crossroads, get help or lose everything he had worked so hard for.

It was then when his family brought him into Brockton’s Teen Challenge, a faith-based drug treatment program. He went in broken, lost and without any real hope of getting clean, he just knew he wasn’t ready to die. During his time there, his life changed dramatically. He had his family restored to him and accepted a position to work with the organization upon completing the program. That was ten years ago!

Since then he has taken over the lead Pastor position at South Coast Community Church in Fairhaven, MA. During his time with South Coast they have been active in ministry to the lost, addicted and broken throughout the city and at one time opened their own transitional home. He has also recently become a ride along chaplain with the NBPD, helping provide hope to those in New Bedford battling addiction, in those same places and with the same despair that he had once found himself in. A life once lost and now found.

“Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.”
– Scarlet Begonias, The Grateful Dead

“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
– John 1:5

_________________________________________________________

Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com

Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton