What Rodrick Yarbrough saw when he walked into his living room late one
evening changed his life: His 3-year-old son was rolling up a sheet of
paper like a marijuana joint. Little Rodrick Jr. wasn't imitating what
he'd seen on TV or learned from the bigger kids at the playground. He
was mimicking Dad.
Five years ago, Yarbrough was a well-connected drug dealer in Bonton, a low-income section of Dallas. At one point he controlled nearly 70 percent of the drug traffic in his neighborhood. He narrowly dodged arrest on several occasions.
But seeing his 3-year-old rolling up that sheet of paper was more than he could bear. He recalls thinking, "I need to change."
Changing direction, though, is easier said than done in a place like
Bonton. It's still easy to sign up for benefits offered by more than 70
different means-tested welfare programs. Government policies generate
strong incentives for welfare recipients to remain single and
unemployed.
A memory from his own childhood also propelled Yarbrough: "When I was growing up and saw my mom bustin' her tail working two jobs to feed a family of three, I was like, OK, this is what I need to do. I need to work to provide." In a typical welfare household in Bonton, though, children learn a different lesson: "They're thinking, 'When I get older, I have a couple of kids, I get assisted housing and food, and I have a couple hundred dollars to do whatever I want to do.' It's an ongoing cycle."
Yarbrough wanted to be a good dad and to have a legitimate calling--but he needed guidance. For years, volunteers and staff at a local ministry called H.I.S. BridgeBuilders engaged his passion for basketball and shared the gospel with him. In 2006 Yarbrough professed faith in Christ and began to be mentored by godly men.
Shortly after that, Ron and Cheryl Murff of North Dallas asked Mike
Fechner, their pastor and the founder of BridgeBuilders, what they could
do to make a difference for those in need. His suggestion: Get to know
Yarbrough and his then-girlfriend, Alisha Thomas, the mother of his four
kids.
Source: World Mag | Ryan Messmore
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