This is my second trip to the Boyd Unit to participate with a Kairos Prison Ministry Weekend. I am here with about ten others from our Church, part of a thirty member team. We start on Thursday at 4 pm and end on Sunday at 4 pm - 72 hours later! I wanted to keep a daily dairy of what I experienced and fill you in.
Well I missed the team meeting at the First Baptist Church where we were to all gather up and 2 pm and leave for the Boyd Unit in Fairfield, Texas at 2:30 pm. I got to the Church at 2:35 just as everyone left. But I quickly caught up with the guys at the prison gates so nothing was harmed. I took all my "stuff" out of my pockets and jewelry off and just left it all in the Tahoe except for my keys and my drivers license.
We all waited another twenty minutes or so before they started letting us in in groups of five. You have to travel through two secure areas where the guard tower can keep a good eye on things in between. Once inside the main yard…the residents gave us plenty of smiles and waves…about 20% of the unit is a part of the Kairos Community so they knew why we were there. The gymnasium is about a half mile walk and it started to sprinkle a little but never really rained…but you could cut the humidity with a knife and it felt like it was in the mid 80's.
When we arrived at our destination the stewards met us with enthusiastic smiles, clapping and hugs all around. We were offered lemonade, coffee and tea and they couldn’t wait to do anything for us. Once there it didn’t take me long to shed my jacket and roll up my sleeves…they don’t have air conditioning and it was getting hot and sweaty quickly! They do have huge fans trying move air around but I think it served more just to make a bunch of noise. They had the gym split into five sections by blue tarps held together by wire and duct tape. You have the dining room, the kitchen ( really just a food holding room ) the community room, the Chapel and the restroom area. All under the basketball goals and on bare concrete floors…but it was clean as a whistle…the guys had been there since 7 am cleaning and putting the room together. Tommy came up and gave me a big hug. He was my table steward last year and this year he had been promoted to head steward over the whole team…he was very proud of that. We had to wait an extra 30 minutes for our "pilgrims" to arrive…the unit was on lock down as they had to count everyone down and it took a little while. These things happen. So we spent the extra time visiting with the stewards and each other until they got there.
You could tell when they came in because of all the loud clapping and cheering coming from the other end of the gym which we couldn’t see. My two guys I am "sponsoring" are Michael and Albert. I introduced myself to them and we sat down and started working on some of the three thousand dozen cookies that were brought in. I think the guys made a good dent in them. Along with the bananas and grapes. Michael went to UTA were I graduated from so we hit it right off. He went to school on a four year soccer scholarship and majored in pre-civil war US History. A typical jock degree plan. He has been a resident for 14 years and should be released next year. He is friendly, assertive and you can tell he loves people…if you ignore the swastika tattoo on his arm. In fact both arms and his neck are covered with tattoos of skulls and demons and weird signs. Albert is gentle, sweet and quiet. A little harder to talk to but seems like a real down to earth guy. He is studying to get his GED and is learning carpentry. Neither live in pods but are locked down in a cell every night. The guests are an even mix of white, blacks and Hispanics. Lots of tattoos every where…not the world I am used to living in. But when we went around the room introducing ourselves and talking about our families and past times…I heard a lot about wives, kids, grand kids and loving parents. The guys like to read and write and in the free world hunt and fish. Around here they watch a lot of TV ( which they get most of the cable channels ) when they aren't working or reading. Most are into the Final Four NCAA tournament and the Dallas Mavericks and all have an opinion about the teams….just like the guys back home. They get to watch TV until 10:30 pm during the week and until 1:30 pm on weekends. I got good feelings about the weekend during the intros.
When asked why they wanted to attend this weekend…you got answers from the full range of wanting worship, to learn more about Jesus, to "I'm shopping for religion" to "I don’t know why I am here". But we know that God has a plan for each man in white here this weekend and it will be revealed over the next 72 hours. There are even three "Arts" on the weekend…if you include me. That has got to be a good sign. Many of the men were from Tarrant County and one from Cleburne. He sat next to me during the introductions. He showed me a photo of his eleven year old son decked out in his football uniform. I reflected back to when I was eleven and didn’t have a dad in my life either. Maybe I can help this dad so when he gets out he can be a Godly father to his son and a good role model, learning from his mistakes in life. We will see what God has in mind here as well.
It took a long time for seventy people to introduce themselves and when that was over we had a short meditation, read the parable of the Prodigal Son ( which we just studied in my SS class this past week ) , had a prayer and called it a night. It was now 7:45 pm.
We got back to the church where the outside team had dinner waiting on us, we ate , had a short meeting and packed it in. By now it was 9:30 pm and it is getting late.
Tomorrow we start the real work…tonight was just getting a little more comfortable with each other. Pray for each of the 42 men in white in attendance … that they find Jesus somewhere this weekend and feel the Holy Spirit working in them.
And pray for the inside and outside Team! We need it and can feel it!
Hello,
My daddy John Boggs went on this weeken with you, and sent me the links to your diary. Hope you don't mind me reading. I am interested in having someone else's opinion of thie work that you do there. I have made cookies in the past but don't know exactly what goes on other than what daddy tells us. He really feels that he is meant to do this ministry. Have a good evening and I am planning on reading sll your entries later this week.
Deanna
Posted by: Lynne-Ft Worth | April 09, 2008 at 04:26 PM