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Editor's Notes: This is the final of a three-part series leading up to tonight’s "Selfish Giant" Rock Opera Benefiting the Summer Youth Program of the Salvation Army.

Story by PATRICK BUTLER
Religion Editor

Capt. John Falin of the Tyler Corps of the Salvation Army understands — no one can fight constant battles without getting hurt. But not to fight is worse, he said, and he’s not giving up.

That’s not what a third-generation “Salvationist” like Falin would do, no matter what. Giving up is not the Salvation Army way.

But Falin admits he’s not invulnerable. Quite the opposite in fact.

“Sure, I get discouraged,” he said. “Sometimes it can be very discouraging when you see people ravaged by addiction or some that are in and out, in and out of our programs and facilities. Sometimes they jump from city to city to Salvation Army centers. It breaks your heart, but we never give up. We never give up.”

The reason is God, he said.

“When God called us to ‘Love thy Neighbor,’ he was serious,” said Falin. “We believe every person who walks through the door is a child of God. We’re here not here to judge and condemn people, but to lift them up and help them realize their full potential.”

Even those who appear unredeemable, he said.

“Who are we to judge who’s going to succeed and whose going to make it? Who are we to give up on people in life? People mature at different times in different ways,” he said. “We just that hope one day, they’ll turn their lives around.”

That’s where the risk comes in.

“Helping people like we do, the way we do, is a risk of vulnerability,” he said. “It can be easy to become calloused. You have to fight that, and remain vulnerable and keep going. My grandparents told me when I joined the Army to remember, ‘It’s all about service.’”

Before Capts. John and Melanie Falin came to Tyler two years ago, they didn’t realize how generous its citizens were, how dedicated they were to helping others. How seriously the people here took the admonition to “Love thy Neighbor.”

They do now.

“Our first assignment in another state spoiled us,” Falin in 2007 told the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “We thought we’d never have it that good again. But Tyler was better. It’s phenomenal, really. The community is solidly behind the work here.”

So why does Falin want this supportive, loving, giving and sacrificial community to do more?

First, Falin said, he wishes all of what Tyler knew about the Salvation Army is “the enormity of what we do.”

“We’re so multifaceted, most don’t realize how much we help people in so many areas,” he said. “I hear all the time ‘I didn’t know you did that.’”

Ticking off a quick list, Falin said, “If you’re behind in your rent or utility payments, we help. If you need food we have a pantry. If you have a chemical addiction, we have a program. If you’re down on your luck and so far behind in your rent that you’ve been evicted, we have a place you can stay.”

There’s more.

“We’ll mentor you to get full-time employment, go to school and help you save monthly,” he said. “We’ll take care of your children while you do that. If someone can’t read, we work with the Literacy Council to help them get their GED. We provide transportation to classes.

“We had 100-percent success rate, assisting people with full-time employment in the first quarter of 2008,” he said, “and we average an 85-percent success rate at other times. Rather than impart a sense of ‘entitlement’ to those we help, we want to impart a sense of self-worth so they can accomplish goals. And if you want spiritual rejuvenation, we have that. We’re a spiritual mission.”

That’s salvation, he said.

“We’re interested in the total salvation of the person, not just a prayer,” he said. “I speak of the total salvation process; from poverty, from addiction, from illiteracy, from low self-esteem and salvation from the God that loves them.”

And that’s why Falin, a father of three, is acutely aware of the predicament of children in the community immediately surrounding the Salvation Army’s City of Hope headquarters in Tyler. It’s those children he would like the community at large to reach.

“When you read about the dire needs of children on TV or read statistics,” he said, “they are ‘those children.’ But when you live where the poverty is, they become ‘our children’ and your own children. When you look someone in the eyes that’s hurting, and when there is an actual unavoidable connection, you can’t help but hurt with them. That hurt calls you to action.”

But beating the drum for help is not exactly what Falin wants or feels the need to do.

“I’ve said before that the Salvation Army is a mirror of any community it serves,” he said. “I’m convinced that when good people of this community see genuine need they will rise up to the occasion. I don’t think it will be necessary to pressure anyone. Presenting the information and letting people know there are children of the nexus of poverty — all kinds of children — right around us that could benefit from our existing youth outreach program, they will respond, expanding it to reach as many as they can.”

Falin paused. It seemed he was thinking of the 130 years the Salvation Army has fought the fight against despair.

Finally he said, “If we truly love them, we are compelled to do something. I’ve been here two years and I saw right away the potential of the beautiful building and youth program at the City of Hope that Tyler has at its disposal. For two years, we’ve been praying for a way to help more children.”

His voice became firm.

“It’s perseverance,” he said, “and we’ll keep praying and persevering until it’s not just a dream anymore.”

And that’s the Salvation Army way.