ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Many people who go into prison use the time to truly repent of their crimes and plan a way to make amends.
The Rock Ministries in Aurora, Colo. is one group that looks to help people with just that, and Matthew Garcia is one of the clients making his way back into society.
“I just got out of prison from Texas – I've only been out for about eight months, but I did 10 years, and so everything’s still kind of new to me,” Garcia said. “Not too long ago, I was falling back into my old habits, but I didn't want to end back up there. I met the pastor, who's been doing this work for at least over 12 years. He'd actually had some trouble running in with the law and stuff, and he ultimately bettered himself inside prison. He started coming out here and started The Rock Ministries. He's a pretty good pastor – he can be hard, he's rough around the edges, but he's definitely going to get his message through to you. It's tough love because he was shown tough love. This ministry, it's great. Some of the clients do fall back to their old habits and ultimately end up back in prison. But a lot of them do change and grow and they teach their family, and their family actually grows from it religiously. This ministry’s name comes from when Jesus said ‘Peter, I'm going to build my foundation on you,’ and the idea is to help people have Jesus be the foundation of their lives, especially someone like me who’s coming out of prison. I will admit life gets to me at times, and sometimes I want to break down, and it gets frustrating. When you're walking that path with the Lord, you know things are going to be thrown at you. The devil's going to do anything he can to try to stop you because he knows you're trying to get close to God. But I don't get mad at them because I know they're there to try and break me, but I just have to trust myself.”
Garcia said he is rather new to The Rock Ministries and said his journey there started earlier this summer.
“My mom had run into the pastor Jesus somewhere in Fort Worth, Texas, where I'm from, and she was telling him ‘I have a son who’s been going through a lot lately – he has drug abuse problems and I’m afraid he’s falling back into his old habits, like he's in the middle of going back and forth, back and forth because he doesn't know what he wants to do.’ Eventually, there came a point when I felt like my karma came out me doing time in prison. I believe in the karmic law and I believe what you put into the world and what you will receive back whether it's good or it is bad. When I opened up the Bible and became a born-again Christian about 11 years ago, it felt like I was eating from the knowledge of good and evil. You know what you're supposed to do and what you're not supposed to do. When I do something less than ideal, my karma happens in the same day, sometimes within the same hour, and it’s kind of crazy.”
Garcia said he has enjoyed helping spread The Rock Ministries’ message during his short tenure.
“The people I come across are good and loving people, and they just have so much in the way they carry themselves,” Garcia said. “You can feel their positive energy. So far, I haven’t met really any negative people except for a few people who have said ‘No, go away. I am good.’ And I just sit back and say ‘All right, appreciate it, you have a blessed day. Nice talking to you.’ This teaches you how to grow, how to take no for an answer. And even if it's done in a disrespectful way, it teaches you how to carry yourself with a lot of esteem. I’ve learned a lot about getting back with God, getting back in touch with myself spiritually, so I’ve been working on getting back in my Bible. I left the Lord alone and walked away and back to the same old things that was going to end up with me in prison. There was one time I had a bunch of drugs in the car and other paraphernalia and they ultimately ended up not finding any of it. I walked away from that situation and realized God saved me then from ending up in federal prison for the rest of my life. After that situation, I told myself ‘Stay away from that stuff and leave it alone. You’ve gotta stay off this.’ I decided I wanted to become someone people could count on and stay away from that crowd permanently. I like sharing my testimony and praying with people, especially men, because a lot of men have that mindset of ‘We're men, we got ego and too much pride.’”
And the future looks bright, Garcia said.
“Right now, I'm learning how to better myself spiritually and mentally, and now I'm getting back to myself physically,” Garcia said. “For the future, I really want to have my own businesses. I want to start it off in Colorado. I want to have some money going into to my bank account, and eventually, maybe start a relationship. I would want to have a food truck and/or a gas station. I see myself in the future, just having my own life and being an entrepreneur. I would also like to find a pastor and start my own ministry called Foot and Hand Ministry because as you take the steps, you’ve got to learn how to trust and believe and take God's hand so you can walk with Him through life.”
