When Habbershon takes the stage Saturday during “The Story Tour,” he will expose those tattoos and the tragedy caused by his drug addiction that led to a suicide attempt.
As a teen, he played in a couple of punk rock bands and one of them was named “Out With A Bang.” That’s what his neck tattoo represents.
That band also opened the doors to Habbershon’s drug addiction that nearly cost him his life if not for a knock at the door and God’s intervention, he said.
He was alone one night 15 years ago in his Pennsylvania apartment, part of a drug house, when he decided to pop 50 to 60 pills. He doesn’t know what the pills were. He only knew they would mask his pain.
“Hitting the bottom of my addiction,” is how he described that night.
It nearly was the death of him.
Habbershon guesses he was passed out for 32 hours when he woke up after hearing a knock at the door. It was one of his buddies who wanted him to go to a nearby bar and get high.
That night, his buddy, after a few drinks, was telling anyone who would listen about how Habbershon was “totally messed up” when he was found on the floor.
A lady sitting down a few bar stools heard the story and that didn’t sound like something Habbershon would do. She called Habbershon’s sister who then called his mother.
“The right ears at the right times,” he said.
A few weeks later, Habbershon entered drug rehab.
He has been clean and sober for 14 years.
At the time, Habbershon believed committing suicide was the “only solution and a way to do the world, my family a favor. All I was doing was hurting people.”
He called himself “a garbage can of an addict.” He took anything just as long as he felt better. He shot up with water, “a ritual that helped my mind until I could get drugs,” he said.
Excuse me pastor, did you say you shot water?
“I know on the outside it looks completely insane,” he said during a phone interview. “You just want more, more, more and to get high and get higher. It’s literally bondage.”
Those chains have been removed.
Habbershon, 39, has been married for 10 years to Kelsey and they have a son, Haven, 9. He was a full-time youth pastor for nine years, but now travels with “The Story Tour,” that has been described as “not your typical night.”
It’s part music, part message, he said.
With one goal: Make a difference.
During the first event two years ago in Maine, a young man showed up. He was high as a kite.
He listened to the message, Habbershon said, and returned to the event one year later, celebrating his first year of sobriety.
“That’s what it’s about,” Habbershon said. “People can expect a night of hope for anyone struggling with anything.”
Habbershon will speak from experience that will be visible on his neck and in his heart.
How to go
WHAT: “The Story Tour” featuring Pastor Travis Habbershon, speaker and former drug addict Allan Scott, original music from the Allan Scott Band and encouraging stories from across the U.S.
WHEN: Doors open at 6 p.m. Saturday. Show starts at 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Berachah Church, 1900 Johns Road, Middletown
HOW MUCH: $12 each for groups of 10 or more, $14 general admission, $19 premium seating, $32 VIP
TICKETS: thestorytour.org or call 570-506-8100
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