Flames of faith
Although many see flames as the trademark of Hell, Lee Ramsey takes flames to a sacred place.
The Butler speaker will use his skills as a fire eater next week during a motivational program at Covenant Life Church.
In the program titled "On Fire for Christ," Ramsey will address violence, drugs and homelessness through songs, stories and a fire-eating demonstration.
"If you happen to miss Heaven and end up in Hell, it's symbolic of the fire eating your spirit," said Ramsey, the disabled veteran who redefined himself as "a fire-eating gospel singer."
Ramsey's 11-year-old son Ishemer also participates in the show by doing martial arts demonstrations and performing his newly composed gospel rap, "I Want to go to Heaven but I'm Only 11."
Residents of Butler for nearly three years, Ramsey and Ishemer relocated from Pittsburgh to escape an environment permeated with violence and drugs.
Prior to the move, Ramsey had become fed up with his own substance abuse issues, intensified by a need to seek treatment for depression and other disorders.
To remedy the problem, Ramsey voluntarily relinquished Ishemer to Children and Youth Services in order to get healthy, eventually ending up at the Butler Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Ramsey has been living a clean life since then, he noted.
Although his motivational talks draw heavily on his experience with drugs, Ramsey also is driven by time spent in prison.
"You don't realize what happens when you go to prison. You have to check those guns at the gate," he said, describing the violence he saw while serving 6 months in the early 70s.
"I was there long enough to see guys get raped, murdered. ... If Ihad a choice, I'd rather go back to Vietnam than go to the state penitentiary."
Although his program is geared toward all ages, Ramsey said he hopes to target at-risk youths — a goal that is shared by Ishemer, whose two brothers were murdered on separate occasions in Pittsburgh.
"It's for all ages, but I'm putting emphasis on children because of the drug epidemic," Ramsey said.
The Rev. Matt Olson, lead pastor at Covenant Life, describes Ramsey as a valuable addition to the church, which Ramsey has attended for about a year, playing a variety of percussion instruments on the worship team."A big part of the message is: If God can take him though it, he can take you through it too," Olson said. "You go through fire, but you come through in the end. It's a real message of hope."It's mainly an outreach to people who are hurting. ... He's a person that wants to see other people healed."Ramsey said he has been eating fire since the early 1980s. Already an entertainer, he was inspired by seeing a fire-eating demonstration, then added that component to existing talents.Ramsey said he did fire-eating demonstrations with Caribbean bands for about 20 years and he has been doing "On Fire for Christ" since the early 90s.
<b>WHAT:</b> "On Fire for Christ" motivational programWHEN:</b> 7 p.m. March 9<b>WHERE:</b> Covenant Life Church, 220 New Castle St.<b>ADMISSION:</b> Free
