The healing taking place at Outcry In The Barrio is a sight to behold.
By Steve Parkhurst
On a pleasant spring day in west San Antonio, just off a main road, there rests a place that from the street might appear deserted.
Inside, this place is anything but deserted. It is full of life and spirit. In some cases, the life and the spirit are renewing.
What’s taking place on the premises here is something of a renaissance, and nothing short of a miracle.
I am at Outcry In The Barrio ministry this spring day.
This ministry, founded by Freddie Garcia, a heroin addict turned minister, turned modern day savior, founded Outcry when he was recovering from a tragic life, full of bad experiences, poor judgment and most importantly, sin.
Being from San Antonio, I had heard about Outcry and I had seen their acolytes distributing literature throughout the years at shopping center parking lots or at various intersections. Freddie and Ninfa’s (his wife) book Outcry In The Barrio is very well known and very distinguishable in San Antonio.
I was introduced to Outcry and Freddie Garcia in a new sense, by Robert Woodson in his book The Triumphs of Joseph: How Today’s Community Healers Are Reviving Our Streets and Neighborhoods. Woodson spent the better part of a chapter describing how Freddie Garcia was at the lowest point in his life when he found a way to turn his life around, and in turn, turned around the lives of untold numbers of souls.
Then, in early 2014, on a visit to San Antonio, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan visited Outcry, along with Robert Woodson so that the Congressman could see firsthand how a faith-based, results driven organization that does not rely on the government for funding could be doing so well for so long.
Congressman Ryan is touring the country, in most cases with Robert Woodson, looking for answers to the poverty problem as the country looks back at the last 50 years of the “war on poverty.” And since his visit, Congressman Ryan is mentioning Outcry specifically. And now, having been there myself, I can understand why.
While others are content to spend more and accept lesser results, Paul Ryan is looking at the alternatives where the results are great, the spending is less and the empowerment of local leaders in increased.
Congressman Ryan deserves credit, and a following, for doing this work. For going to places like Outcry, free of media attention, just to listen to leaders talk about what works, and why. Ryan does not want credit though, to listen to him and to watch him speak on the topics of poverty and addiction is to understand that he wants to find a way to help those who really need help.
It is up to the rest of us to engage locally and find our own Outcry’s and do what we can to help. By doing this, we show strength in numbers when people are saved by a legitimate program, rather than just being lumped into a group of government statistics where the number of people in recovery programs is more important than the number of people cured or saved.
History ties loose ends together in this story, in a “circle of life” sort of way. Robert Woodson worked with the late Jack Kemp while Kemp was at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. A young Paul Ryan went to Washington D.C. and got a job writing speeches and studying policy for Jack Kemp at Empower America. The work has continued. The rest is history.
Today, Pastor Freddie has been gone for nearly five years, yet his legacy continues to grow in the ministry that he built from the ground up, as souls are saved and communities are changed.
It does not take long during a visit to Outcry to feel the power of what is taking place.
On the day of my visit two new addicts are in their first few hours of recovery. One gentleman, deciding he had sinned long enough, has checked-in to give up on heroin use. He is sleeping, but he has a prayer partner waiting by him to help him when he wakes up. That help could be in the form of a drink of water, or it could be in the form of prayer, or even just a sweet treat, as addicts crave sweets when they stop using.
A few beds away, another gentleman, also in his first hour of recovery and hope for a new life, is shaking in his bed, having just given up on his addiction to alcohol earlier in the day.
I witness prayers for each of these, and to an extent I even prayed with them. This however, is not your typical prayer. Several individuals, most of them having been in this same situation at some point in their lives, move toward the men one at a time and they gather around, and each person starts praying out loud, their own prayer. Not rehearsed. Not a form prayer. It is a prayer for that individual, and it’s a prayer that comes from the heart, at that moment.
We move outside to a semi-covered patio lined with chairs, and a gentleman standing at the front of a group of 50-60 men and women in recovery. This is a session which looks like a sermon, but it is longer than any sermon any of us has sat through in our lives, not that anyone is complaining.
Eventually, I am asked to say a few words to the group and I am handed a microphone. This was a spur of the moment thing, when I arrived hours earlier, I did not know I would be doing this. I didn’t speak for more than a minute. I was standing before a group of 50-60 people, of which about 80-85{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} were in their first 30 days of recovery, with the rest being closer to 90 days in recovery. It did not dawn on me at the time, but I wondered later, just how many of those people might have been in jail – just earlier this year? How many might have awoken from their last high – just in the past two months?
What could I say to this crowd that they might care about?
I talked about the internal community at Outcry, the people all around that facility, the way every person there was rooting for and looking out for these individuals. How on the really tough days, when it seems easy to give in and go back to getting high or drunk, there is a group of people to lean on and confide in, and pray with.
I am not delusional enough to think I changed anyone’s life. For all I know, I stated obvious truths and I was forgotten by the end of the day.
In the end, this was not about me. It was about a ministry, with a success rate better than any government recovery program can aspire to, doing what seems like impossible work.
It was about neighborhood healers, first Freddie Garcia, then current leaders Roman and Alma Herrera, and every leader at Outcry who has ever stood or sat in front of a person who could be down to his or her last breath, his or her last moment, and simply said a prayer and led that lost soul first to acceptance and then to a safe place where healing begins.
This is the stuff that leads to a renaissance.
Steve,
I am impressed with the Outcry program and your interest and excellent article about it. Programs of this nature are much more effective than government run programs. I have encountered a young man in Houston who had been a drug addict and has created homes for other young men guiding them toward their recovery. He not only helps them address their addictions, but helps them get their education (usually a GED) introduces them to God, helps them get work, and takes 2 of them with him wherever he goes teaching them how to act properly in public. There are a lot of wonderful unsung heroes in this world.
You may remember that we worked together on Jack O’Conner’s campaign. I passed this on to him. He is very involved with the homeless issues in Houston. You two may want to compare notes and catch up.
Nancy Scott
Nancy,
Thank you for the reply here. I will email you privately, as I would like to know more about the man you mentioned who is helping addicts locally. And you’re right, there are many great groups and individuals doing this kind of work. I was part of a small team of people that circulated a “neighborhood healers” initiative statewide for the precinct conventions in March.
I think it’s important that our party seek out these sorts of healers, people who are putting conservative (even Christian) principles into practice, and sort of shine a spotlight on them and encourage people to get involved with such groups. As I mentioned in my op-ed, the more that groups like Outcry succeed, the better example we set and the better we demonstrate the power of local answers, local healers, rather than the answers from faceless, nameless bureaucrats in D.C. who look at spreadsheets before deciding who to help.
Nancy Scott called me to confirm if the author of this article was in fact Steve Parkhurst, the political consultant we both know. She said the article was well written, and I knew immediately it was the young and talented man who worked on my campaign for State Rep. 149.
There is no doubt that Steve is not only knowledgeable on issues but he also has a keen sense of when discussion, dialog, and debate is more than just rhetoric or when it falls away from being something good. His references to Jack Kemp reflect an appreciation for Kemp’s well thought out conservative thinking that has had a lasting impact on people like Paul Ryan.
Conservative thought consists of having high confidence in each individual and family finding their own way rather than the government giving constant direction. Being Conservative is not being reactionary and if you recall Ronald Reagan’s pitch for General Electric, “Progress is Our Most Important Product”…….In a larger sense, progress is the result of the effort of Americans in the pursuit of perfecting a way of life. Conservative thinking sees the government’s attempt to subsidize those who the government deems to need help, as a corruption of the invidual’s will to live an independant life. Further many Democrats have come to believe that the government has created the growing addiction for its assistance.
Steve’s observations and commentary hit home on the notion that organizations like Outcry In The Barrio are more effective operating outside of government on their own. My experience in Houston indicates that Charities and Non Profits who serve those who genuinely need help compete more and more with the Federal and local government programs which are entirely and generously subsubsidized by tax dollars. That is not saying that some government programs have not made a short term difference such as the City’s effort here in Houston to house the profoundly indigent veterans. It is people like Freddie Garcia and his successors at Outcry In The Barrio, however, that have made good with a lasting difference.
All organizations can become corrupt, but those that do better exist where prayer is allowed to exist. While studies strongly indicate that those who are followers of Christianity do better emotionally, socially, and healthwise, there is enormous opportunity for churches and individuals to help the homeless and addicted. Giving them money on street corners encourages them not look for a way out. Additionally, I believe Steve would agree that government programs of assistance have allowed and enabled addicts to live comfortably and avoid addressing their problems with addiction.
Thanks for the article Steve, we hope to hear more from you.
Jack O’Connor
Jack,
Thank you for your well thought out comments. You inspired me several years ago now to read Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s Maximum Feasible Misunderstanding, which led me to some of Senator Moynihan’s other works, where he pointed out other truths that today would have jeopardized his standing in the Democrat party.
I’ll email you privately Jack, let’s grab coffee at that diner sometime and compare notes. If you see my response to Nancy, some of us are trying to make something happen at the state convention in June, and your help and insights could be extremely useful. It’s a minor thing, but its importance is great.
Excellent article Steve. May I suggest that this article and the book, “Outcry In The Barrio” be required reading for ALL the members of the Texas Legislature including the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Speaker.
Working in that ivory tower, the Texas Capitol, for more than a week can often produce a false sense of security to most members regarding the issues of the “real world.” Why? You ask.
It is because most elected officials, usually 65{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} or more, are financially affluent. They live in the best neighborhoods, send their children to the best schools, shop at the best stores, etc. They don’t ride the bus, walk, or have to do other similar things that the financially challenged people in Texas have to do every day. Therefore, their understanding of real life issues is inadequate for them to properly legislate on the issues that plaque our society in Texas. Your article and that book would at least be a good introductory course in their learning.
Keep up the good work.
WOW!!! GREAT story! Thank you for sharing! I had never heard of “Outcry in the Barrio,” and I am surely interested in visiting soon……