Mission's giveaway invites hope's return

Paul Iverson/Caller-Times

Alba Regina Bodnarasec (from left) and Frank Zuniga, members of Agua Cristalina Baptist Chuch, offer bread to Maria Rodriguez.

EVERY Wednesday, from 9 a.m. to noon, Agua Cristalina Baptist Church on 18th Street gives away free bread and pastries to the needy people of the neighborhood.
   Some might say that opening the mission's doors to welcome strangers and offer free bread is inviting trouble.
   But John A. Garcia, pastor of the mission, sees bread day as an occasion for inviting hope's return.
   "We've actually had some people cry when we give them bread and some have said, 'How did you know?'
   "There are people all around here who are barely subsisting. They are going hungry and I remember that well."

How to help To donate to the mission’s basketball/volleyball court project, call 883-7971.

   Garcia, a Koch Refining Co. retiree, lives near Carroll High School, but he grew up 15 blocks away from the mission, in a neighborhood known as Los Traques. The neighborhood adjacent to Los Traques, where the mission now stands, was once considered "the other side of the tracks" where people who could afford nice homes lived.
   There were times growing up in Los Traques when, in between paychecks, food in the pantry grew scarce. And when there was nothing but bread and sugar, Garcia would make do with sugar sandwiches.
   No one turned away
   "I understand hunger very well, and that's why, here, no one is turned away," Garcia said.
   The mission began bread day five months ago shortly after Garcia visited Sam's Club to seek support for a fund-raiser he was organizing. During that visit, he was told of the store's bread giveaway and invited to apply. Garcia's application was approved and now every Wednesday he drives his truck to the store to fill up the bed and cab with white and French bread, dinner rolls, cookies, cheesecake and apple, cherry and pecan pies to give away at the mission.
   "This didn't happen by accident," Garcia said. "The good Lord knew we wanted to help people here and he found a way for us to do that."
   But the bread ministry is just the beginning, said Ofelia Caballero, a mission member who helps pass out free bread on Wednesdays.
   The congregation wants to resurface the building's parking lot and turn it into a basketball and volleyball recreational area for the children in the neighborhood, she said.
   Garcia said the project will cost anywhere from $10,000 to $13,000.
   "It breaks my heart to see that the city isn't doing enough for these depressed areas," said Garcia, tears welling up in his eyes as he recalls memories of this neighborhood's heyday.
   Campaign signs are up in the neighborhood, but Garcia doesn't think the candidates spend enough time talking to the people who live near the mission.
   Just last week, Garcia spoke to a Mrs. Garcia on 16th Street, whose house was burglarized and her refrigerator stolen. Another woman on a nearby street also said her home was burglarized while she was away visiting family in Houston. When she returned, her TV and other items were gone.
   The mission too has been a target.
   One week after moving into the neighborhood in September, the battery to the mission's van was stolen.
   "They steal to get money for drugs," Garcia said. "But we're not going to give up. We'll continue praying for this community.
   "We want to help people clean their yards and mow their lawns. We want to do what we can to help revitalize this area and make people proud of where they live. That's my vision for this neighborhood.
   "Unfortunately, nowadays, if you do something good for someone it's because you want something. They ask, "What's the catch?
   "But there is none here. We're here to serve people and we ask nothing in return. The good Lord will make things happen. We just have to believe. And as long as I'm alive, we'll continue doing and praying for the neighborhood."