By Steve Huffman
Salisbury Post
Justin Parker said that, growing up, he wasn’t the wildest kid around.
But, on the other hand …
“I was a brawler,” he said, chuckling at the memories.
Times have changed. And so has Parker.
Nowadays, at the still-tender age of 28, Parker is an ordained minister and executive director of Rowan Outreach Center. It’s an organization with a number of goals, one of which is to help the homeless and those battling any number of addictions.
Rowan Outreach Center (“the ROC” as it’s affectionally called by those who take advantage of its numerous offerings) is headquartered in the 500 block of South Main Street in Salisbury.
In addition to working with addicts and the homeless, the organization also distributes school supplies and more to needy children.
On the last Friday of each month, those affiliated with the organization host a “ROC the City” celebration. On those nights, Parker dons an apron and grills hamburgers for children who might otherwise have gone hungry that particular evening.
He doles out school supplies and gifts for children who are often ignored or ó sadder still ó forgotten. Parker and the children play games, sing songs and generally behave like 10-year-old children should have the privilege of behaving.
The scenario is repeated on numerous holidays throughout the year. On those occasions, Parker and the children dance to high-energy Christian rap music and generally do the kinds of things that aren’t associated with a stereotypical church service.
“We fed 100 families this past Thanksgiving,” Parker said, trying not very successfully to mask his pride. “We had 300 people at our Christmas party and gave out 2,200 presents. We had a good time.”
No small accomplishment for a young man who, by his own admission, harbored a great deal of hostilities not many years ago.
“I did some stupid things when I was younger,” Parker said. “I always felt that death was chasing me. When I gave my heart to the Lord, I realized that’s no longer the truth.”
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Those who glance at Parker might be excused for believing he’s a motorcycle gang member. Or something along those lines.
Parker stands about 6-feet tall and weighs about 210 pounds. He’s plenty muscular.
Parker has tattoos up and down both forearms, from his elbows to his wrists.
But they aren’t biker-related.
“First of all, they’re all about Jesus,” Parker said when asked about his tattoos.
They include one on the inside of his right forearm that many people mistake for the Grim Reaper.
The tattoo, Parker said, represents Christ’s victory over death. “After Christ rose,” Parker said, “death had no power.”
On the outside of his forearms, Parker has other tattoos.
“Live to die,” reads one.
“Die to live,” says the other.
The words are tattooed one letter on top of the other, beginning just below Parker’s wrists and working their way up to his elbows. They can only be read when Parker holds his arms up as if preparing to fight.
He said he had them tattooed where he did so that when he clinched his fists and faced a mirror, he’d be reminded of his not-so-distant past.
“They keep the gloves off, so to speak,” Parker said, speaking quietly, almost to himself.
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Parker graduated from North Rowan High School in 1997. He played baseball and wrestled during his prep career. But when it came to athletics, his first love was football.
Though he only weighed about 175 pounds at the time, Parker anchored the Cavaliers’ offensive line and was also a force to be reckoned with at defensive end.
His senior year, he was voted North’s most valuable offensive lineman. Had he been bigger, a college football career wouldn’t have been out of the question.Parker now plays center for the Rowan Rage, a semi-pro football team whose members play their home games on Saturday afternoons at Knox Middle School. They play for the love of the game and not a whole lot else.
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In school, Parker was a tad different, but not a bad sort, said those who knew him.
“Justin was never a real problem as far as I could see,” said Carolyn Barker, the attendance counselor at North while Parker was a student there.
“He didn’t seem real interested in school, but he was always very respectable to me.”
Barker, who went on to become the headmaster at North Hills Christian Academy, said Parker stopped by to see her after he’d become a Christian.
“I was delighted to hear what he was doing,” Barker said of Parker’s transformation and ministry. “I honestly believe that Justin’s heart is genuine through and through. I believe in Justin.”
The church of which Barker is a member, Trading Ford Baptist, is one that provides financial support for Rowan Outreach Center.
The church also donates numerous items for Parker to give to the children who visit his “ROC the City” nights out and other gatherings.
Barker said she didn’t try to talk her fellow church members into supporting Rowan Outreach Center, though she also admitted, “I validated what the pastor was already believing about Justin.”
Robin Gobble is another member of Trading Ford Baptist. When Parker was a second-grader at North Rowan Elementary, she was his teacher’s assistant.
“When I knew him, he was just the sweetest, shy little boy,” Gobble said.
She said she met him years later when he started Rowan Outreach Center.
“I think he’s dedicated to what he believes,” Gobble said.
She said Parker’s ministry has led her to look at the homeless and others who are down on their luck in a different light. Gobble said Parker often brings the homeless with him to perform tasks at Trading Ford.
The homeless, she said, look rough but typically tackle the responsibilities they’re presented with a passion.
“The people that Justin brings to church, they’ve made me stop judging a book by its cover,” Gobble said.
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Parker said he was raised going to church, but said he was about 18 “before I really committed myself to the Lord.”
It was a remarkable transformation.
Parker married his wife, Lorie, in 1998. In the years since, they’ve committed themselves to the ministry with a zeal that would frighten many.
It started when the two were living in Iredell County, not long after they’d married. Justin and Lorie owned a three bedroom, two bath house. They were on their way to becoming as middle class as can be.
But Parker felt a calling and founded the Set Free Ministry near Statesville in 1998. The lives that he and Lorie lived changed considerably.
One of the first things the couple did was sell their house and move into a single room of the building that housed their ministry. The building was donated by an area church.
To put the move into perspective, it should be noted that they shared the ministry’s living arrangements with 26 homeless or drug-addicted men.
“We slept in a closet on a baby mattress,” Parker said. “It was the only room where we could get some privacy.”
During his stint there, Parker once went 16 weeks without a shower or a bath. Parker insists he’s not kidding.
“I’d shower off under a water hose,” he said, managing a grin as he told the story.
Eventually, Justin and Lorie moved to Richmond, Va., to work with the Rev. Allen Caldwell as part of the Richmond Outreach Center.
That’s another organization that works with the homeless and poor.
“For seven months, we were part of their ministry up there,” Lorie said, “and just felt a real burden, a vision, to bring it to Salisbury.”
The Parkers returned to Salisbury in 2004 where they founded Rowan Outreach Center, modeling it after the Richmond ministry.
Parker has a hard time pigeon-holing exactly what it is the ministry does, primarily because he’s involved in so much.
He said the ROC’s two main goals involve serving as a discipleship home for addicts and the homeless, and focusing on the area’s young people.
Parker said that when it comes to turning around the lives of the homeless and addicted, his program ó “Beans and Rice and Jesus Christ” ó has about a 50 percent success rate.
The program stretches half a year during which participants live under the same roof as Parker and his wife.
The program begins with a detox period, then moves to a discipleship phase where Parker counsels participants and helps them reconnect with their families while also straightening out their legal woes.
During that phase of the program, Parker keeps the participants busy with any number of jobs ó everything from mowing to doing odd jobs at area churches.
Parker said the final phase of the program is a transitional one where participants work their way back into the community, finding jobs and working to get their lives in order.
Parker said he’s graduated 10 from the program over the past year.
“I don’t know where they all go when they leave us, but I know that for at least six months they’re clean,” he said.
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Parker said the future of The ROC isn’t certain, though he noted, “I want to stay effective while also pulling the community together.”
Funding, Parker admitted, is a never-ending problem. Parker doesn’t draw a salary and said, “I never will.” His goal for the ministry, however, is to become self-sustaining.
That’s not easy. The money that’s contributed to the organization goes directly to its ministry. Donations are always welcome, Parker said, as there are plenty of needy ó children, especially ó out there.
Parker said he doesn’t mean to criticize traditional ministries, though he also noted, “There’s 50-11 churches in this community and they won’t even look out the window to see about their neighbors.”
When it comes to the ROC, that certainly isn’t the case.
“Kids are falling into gangs every day,” he said. “I’d much rather see them involved in our ministry.”
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Tax-deductible donations may be sent to: Rowan Outreach Center, P.O. Box 3355, Salisbury, NC 28145.
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Contact Steve Huffman at 704-797-4222 or shuffman@ salisburypost.com.