Long overdue - but well worth the wait!

Poor Gary and Diane have had a busy August and so has their blog administrator, leaving a great big gap in their blog history! So here we are trying to get back on track. The last post we had a few months ago was a brief summary of what Gary does in his work in the prisons. However, I got an even better review from him after that first one that I believe does a much better job of telling the story of how all of this is transforming not just the lives of those Gary serves but in Gary himself. Bear with us as it is lengthy and represents parts one and two of a three part post.  You may also notice in the beginning we repeat some of the last post but in that it's been a few months we will leave it in there to give others the full context. ENJOY and check back next week for part three!

PART ONE

Many people are aware through this blog what we are doing when we are out of the country with regard to prison ministry in Latin America, You also know that we aren’t there all the time and that we spend a great deal of our time here at home in Ohio.  What some of you may not know is that my interest and desire is to share the Gospel with individuals who, because of bad decisions and separation from the Lord, have found themselves in prisons.  

Many of you know that for close to seven years, I have been involved in prison ministry at the local prison with an organization called KAIROS.  KAIROS is a prison ministry organization that twice each year, in the prisons they serve, brings in a team of approximately 30-40 volunteers to meet, socialize, and witness to approximately 30-40 inmates.  I participated on teams for approximately three or four years before I started going to Latin America.  Since that time, the required team building for KAIROS requires that I be involved with the teams for approximately 5-6 weeks before we go into the prison, and that has consistently involved times when we are scheduled to be in Honduras or Colombia.  The result is that I haven’t been on a KAIROS team for about 4 years.  However, I have continued to be involved with their Prayer and Share program which occurs every Thursday evening.  

At the Prayer and Share Meetings approximately 6-10 Volunteers meet with usually about 30-40 inmates in small circles to pray for one another, for the institution, for the inmates in the prison that have not come to know Jesus, and then to discuss both challenges and victories that we have experienced in our walk with the Lord in the previous week.  We provide Scripture based discussion to one another. You may be surprised to learn that the support comes as often from the inmates to the volunteers as it does the volunteers to the inmates.  There are a tremendous number of strong believers behind the walls of the prisons.  All of us volunteers feel that we get every bit as much as we give in these meetings.  There is song and praise as well with a band with performances from both the volunteers and the inmate population with 2-3 guitars and drums.

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PART TWO

Because of prison regulations as a volunteer, I cannot develop a special one on one relationship with any individual to the point of being permitted to visit that individual for a personal visit.  However over the years, several inmates have been transferred to other institutions throughout the state of Ohio.  Many of these prisoners come from broken families, or from very broken and dysfunctional backgrounds and they actually have few if any visitors from the outside that come to see them.  

Some individuals who have attended the KAIROS events and Prayer and Share meetings are transferred or moved out to other institutions. For some of those, I have begun following up with them with a continuing written ministry through their in house e-mail system or through the regular US Postal system or even through physical visits to the facilities where they have been transferred.  

Currentlly, I am making physical visits on a once per month schedule to sit and talk with four  men who have become Christian brothers. The visits usually are approximately 3-4 hours with the respective inmate and because of the distance to travel, each visit takes the better part of a full day, leaving home at 5:00AM in order to arrive at the facilities by 9:00AM and visiting and then returning home.  These visits have resulted in developing a mentor type relationship with these men and strengthening both their faith commitment as well as my own.

While each individual relationship is quite unique, one that stands out is with a man who has the unfortunate position of being a 53 year old man who entered the prison system when he was 18 years of age.  His maturity and development have in many ways never developed beyond the eighteen year old level.  He was recently brought before the parole board and after being prematurely led to believe they were recommending him for parole was instead denied parole and advised he would come up for review in another three years.  

Our discussions on those first visits after this decision naturally focused on his disappointment and resentment over being passed over again for parole.  We discussed at length God’s Plan, Sovereignty, Goodness and Faithfullness.  I repeatedly explained that wherever each one of us finds ourselves, while it may be a surprise to us, it is no surprise to God.  He has a plan and we are all in exactly the place that he needs us to be.  That may be to teach us something, or it may be for us to teach someone else, it is our responsibility to be responsive to the situation and search for the Lord’s leading and instruction.  I will be honest, it was a very hard sale,.  He passed through several phases including anger, resentment to resignation, to seeking the what, where, who, and when of God’s plan for him.  He passed from saying “He may have a plan, but I for one don’t like His plan” to, I don’t understand His plan, to “What is His plan.”

These are not easy conversations to have.  I have been blessed in my life extraordinarily and I haven’t had to deal with these kinds of issues.  But somehow the Lord has seemed to give me the words to say, and given me am uncompromising insistence that God is unchanging, His love is constant, and the only thing that changes has to be our attitude toward Him.  

Last week, I attended that particular inmate's “Family Day.”  At his invitation, I was, for that day, the father he never had, and the biblical message and perspective I had been able to share regarding God had softened his resentment and he was back on track after a six week snit.  These visits with each of the inmates are quite different one from the other, but all leave me filled with gratitude in so many ways for the life that the Lord has permitted me to live.  It certainly is the result not of me or anything I have done or not done, it is solely the result of His grace in my life.