Arna Washington

The late Arna Washington’s legacy was not the daughter she lost but the compassion and forgiveness she ultimately was able to show the man who killed her.

Her daughter Deirdra, known as DeDe to her family, was shot and killed after her date drove her to an apartment complex crawling with drug dealers. She was only 27.

Ron Flowers, the man convicted of the murder, would later tell Washington, who lived in Houston, that Deirdra’s date wanted to get drugs but did not have money. The date was chased from the apartment complex, bullets were fired at him, and Deirdra was shot inside his car as it sped away.

Years later, when Flowers graduated from a Bible-based spiritual and moral transformation program in Texas, Washington was in the audience to support him.  A prison ministry in her church eventually led her to a meeting with Flowers, and she forgave him, agreeing to serve as his “other mother.”

News stories about retribution shootings and payback violence abound. Away from the limelight, faith-based movements seek to create communities of healing, where victims of crimes, ex-offenders and relatives of ex-offenders can live side-by-side.

The Progressive National Baptist Convention, an association of Baptist churches throughout the world, is putting together a Family Freedom Kit, which is a resource package for pastors who increasingly need to minister to families suffering because they have been crime victims or have been separated from their loved ones who are in jail or prison.

Dr. Vigil A. Wood, chair of research development for the PNBC Commission on Social Justice and Prison Ministry, is spearheading a pilot campaign in Houston to sign up churches. The Family Freedom Kit rollout is taking place in three cities: Houston, Detroit and Richmond, Va.

“We all want to do all we can to help the incarcerated members of our own church family members achieve a successful re-entry back into the family, the church and the community,” Dr. Wood said. “The Family Freedom Kit is being offered to those congregations willing to become part of a cluster of churches, which will help PNBC refine and finalize the kit as it is offered to congregations all across the country this fall.”

News stories about retribution shootings and payback violence abound. Away from the limelight, faith-based movements seek to create communities of healing, where victims of crimes, ex-offenders and relatives of ex-offenders can live side-by-side. (Illustration by Lana Andrade)

Washington’s inspiring story of the power of forgiveness is profiled in the Family Freedom Kit, which will provide guidance to pastors on introducing the re-entry issues to the congregation, and offer recommendations and resources as they launch the ministry.

On May 3, as part of the kick-off, Rev. Homer Williams, former pastor of Blue Ridge United Methodist Church in Houston, will be honored for his healing ministry, which helped move Washington to forgive Flowers.

The Houston rollout comes just weeks after President Bush signed the Second Chance Act of 2007 into law, which will provide additional federal dollars for programs that help former inmates find jobs, housing and a comprehensive network of support.

“The work of redemption reflects our values. It also reflects our national interests,” the president said.

“Each year, approximately 650,000 prisoners are released from jail. Unfortunately, an estimated two-thirds of them are rearrested within three years. The high recidivism rate places a huge financial burden on taxpayers, it deprives our labor force of productive workers, and it deprives families of their daughters and sons, and husbands and wives, and moms and dads.”