My father-in-law Hank and I drove back from Lompoc this morning wondering what the next few days would hold. We met his wife Maureen, Christina, and Brian and Taylor (my brother-in-law and his girlfriend) at church, where worshipping together was a welcome by-product of the morning’s drama. As we left church, though, Hank received word that the prison would be on lockdown until Tuesday, thereby cancelling the rest of the Kairos weekend. Needless to say, we were all really disappointed. I more than most, as there were guys that I began friendships with while I was “on the inside” that never had any closure whom I will probably never see again this side of heaven.
One of my favorite guys that I met in the prison was a guy by the name of Terry. He had gone through the weekend last year and was now on the “inside team,” which was a group of Kairos alums who were now helping out with various logistical parts of the weekend. He is supposed to be released in the next few months, and seemed to have a pretty realistic observation of where he hoped life would take him. Unfortunately, he also said that he didn’t want to give up many of the things that were fun for him, such as drinking and “womanizing.” I had to leave our conversation prematurely, but thought we’d have more time to talk and I would be able to share with him that a life following the Lord is much more fun than any life following our own desires. Because of the lockdown, however, that follow-up conversation will never be able to happen.
That was just one of the reasons why I was bummed that we weren’t able to go back in today or tomorrow. For those of you who feel led, I would love for you to pray for Terry’s heart, that it would be soft enough to hear what God has to say to him about how he’s going to live his life. I know that ultimately He is in control, but I still really wanted to be able to share that with Terry.
And that was the end of my first experience with prison ministry. As Christina alluded to earlier today, I don’t think that this represents a life-changing call for me, but I was able to get a glimpse of what prison ministry is like and learn God’s heart for those on the “inside,” for which I am very thankful.
