Residents Fight Back

Over three thousand residents of San Bernardino stood up and fought back against violence in their community this passing Saturday, May 10, at the Stop the Violence festival, hosted by The Way World Outreach Ministry. The festival included live Christian music, games for families, Sno-Cone and popcorn booths, a kid’s zone with activities, and over 20 more booths from various organizations and businesses in the community. The Way World Outreach Ministry (WWOM) has over three thousand members, 700 of which volunteered their time during the festival. The Ministry has extended this outreach to the community every year for the past ten years. This year's event was co-sponsored by Cathedral of Praise International Ministries based out of San Bernardino and led by Bishop Craig W. Johnson. Despite the estimated three to five thousand attendees at this event, the WWOM had more of a grass roots start in the community ten years ago when they would go out to the streets of San Bernardino to help the community. Although they have grown exponentially each year in size, their goal of serving the children in the inner city of San Bernardino has not faltered throughout the years. “There is a group of people out here who love their kids. We need to stop this violence; we need to protect our kids,” says Pastor Marco Garcia. The event had a money machine give-a-away, where residents were given the chance to grab as much money as they could in thirty seconds where a fan would blow cash around in a box with the resident inside of it. They also gave away multiple flat screen televisions, a fridge, and bicycles to names pulled from the raffle. The WWOM opened their doors to those who would come for help. “We are offering you love. We are offering you change. We are offering you family. Come as you are, bring all of your problems,” Pastor Garcia compelled. Garcia told his own story about his violent upbringing and his path to finding the church and God and criticized the activities on the streets of the city including drug use, gang activity, and prostitution which continue to destroy the youth in the inner city. “The street teaches pride and pride ruins lives and ruins our legacy. I grew up without a father because of pride,” Garcia concludes. The WWOM will continue to work within the city of San Bernardino to stop violence in the community.