REPORT
FROM OUR KAIROS AT THE POLUNSKY PRISON UNIT
The weekend of October
12-14, members of KUMC invaded the Polunsky prison unit in
Lessons from Kairos from
Pastor Pat Evans
I just got back from a Kairos weekend. Kairos is a prison ministry that is often
able to reach hardened inmates. One of the
men that I spent the weekend with was a self confessed “gang banger”. (Let’s call him Bill) The term “bang” comes from being willing to
shoot it out with rival gangs. As we
spent the weekend, Bill had several questions about Christianity. From his questions you could tell he had
spent some time considering what Christianity is about. His deepest questions dealt with his own
experience of being confronted by changed lives. What Bill was speaking about was not “a
jail-house Christianity”—to which he never considered being a part of—but
authentic Christianity evidenced by transformed lives. Bill spoke of seeing hardened gang members
attend a Kairos weekend and then walk away from the gang to never return—and never
to return to jail. It confounded his mind.
As we spoke about this, I could tell that Bill could not
comprehend how a person could in one weekend accomplish such a transition. He also spoke of several members of the
church inside the unit who had been attempting to reach him for years. One man in particular provided a steady
witness. Bill had been watching the
Christians for some time by now, and he observed one man who lived a Christian
witness. Day in and day out he walked
the walk. I later asked that man how he
was able to reach men inside the unit.
He said “I live the Christian walk.”
During the weekend, one of Bill’s friends walked by and said
something in Spanish, about me. I asked, “What did he say?” Bill responded, “He is watching you.” We both laughed, but then Bill said, “He
wants to know if you are the square deal.”
I asked, “What does that mean?”
Bill explained that ‘a square deal’ means to be on the level, not
kidding. He then used it in
context. He said if I want everyone to
know I am serious I say, “This is the square deal”. In effect, I am not kidding. In a deep way we all want to know the person
we are talking to is not kidding, either us or themselves.
During the weekend we asked the inmates to define the
characteristics of a Christian. They
struggled with the question, until I asked them to remember a Christian they
admired. That is, a Christian who “walks
the walk”. We then discussed that such
people are a witness. The attributes of
a mature Christian are found in Galatians 5:22.
They are listed as fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. A person with such attributes is an authentic
evangelist. Their life is a witness that
is attractive. The transformation of their life speaks effectively. As Bill said “they are the square deal”. For us living out side of the walls of the
prison we must remember we are being watched as well. As we are being transformed into the likeness
of Christ we must remember—our transformation is a witness of our risen Lord.
The Power of the Holy Spirit
at Karios
After the "men in white" on the Polunsky Kairos walk #
19 were showered with special food, letters, cards, posters, decorated
placemats that became cell posters, a prayer chain that encircled the gym,
"forgiveness cookies" to share with someone they needed to forgive or
seek forgiveness from, cookies of love each day, and the shower of
unconditional love of Christ from the inside and outside Kairos team, the
men in white responded with comments such as:
- I have never experienced love like this before!
- I am not alone- I have Christian brothers now.
- This has exceeded my expectations!
- I prayed one year ago for my heart to soften and God has granted my
heart's desire.
- After reading the cards and letters, I cried like a baby.
- Thought I knew how to be a Christian- this was the most awesome
experience ever!
- Received more letters today than in the last ten years in prison.
- All my family on the outside is gone. Now I have a new family on
the inside- Brothers in Christ.
- Experience is overwhelming. Thought I wasn't chosen by God.
Thankful for His timing. This has happened now for a reason. I am called
to share God's love in the "yard."
- Overwhelmed by the power of God's love.
- Grateful God hadn't forgotten me. I am in prison, but I am free!
- Thankful for the "sacks of love" letters.
- God is real. He sent this experience to encourage me and
give me hope.
- Tried for five years to get into Kairos. I have been searching
for a family, now I have a family of Christian brothers on
the inside.
- I am challenged to reach out to my Christian brothers in prison
when they are down.
- No one can tell me now that God doesn't exist and doesn't love
me.
The power of prayer, a cookie, a piece of fruit, a fried chicken
leg, a child's colored placemat, a note from a youth, a letter of
unconditional love, The Holy Spirit, all combined this past weekend to move
mountains in the lives of 42 men at the Polunsky maximum security
prison in Livingston. If you had any part in our weekend, we thank you .
We felt your prayers and were blessed, so we in turn could be a blessing to
others in need. Thank you from our hearts.
Your KUMC Polunsky Kairos #19 team:
Dave and Linda Andrus, Krisie Brown,
Patrick Evans; John and Connie Fetzer; John Hensley, and Purvis and Lynn
Harper
Thanks from your KUMC Polunsky #19 Kairos Team
The
outside Kairos team( kitchen, agape, cookie, chapel,
runners/drivers) usually comes to the host church early on Sunday morning in
work clothes, no make up, no showers( you know the UM Army early morning
drill) to cook, send breakfast off into the unit, and then we clean the
church, kitchen and trailer before we return to the hotel, shower
and change clothes for church. After church we have lunch and go to
the Kairos closing at the prison unit and drive home.
This
past Sunday, God had a different plan. We cooked breakfast
sent it off to the unit and then God sent an angel of love to invite us to
church "just as we were."The Emmaus leader of their church had
insisted we attend their contemporary service in our work clothes regardless of
our condition. I am not sure I have felt so loved and welcomed into a church
service in a long time for just who I was. It was International Children's
Sunday, and as the outside Kairos team sat in the Livingston UMC
sanctuary in our dirty work clothes, no make up, no shower- we felt
loved and accepted. As we sat in our pew over to the side( so
not too many people would notice us) even though every pastor came over to
thank us for our ministry to Polunsky, we looked at the altar and saw a
cross made out of colored crayons. One of the most beautiful crosses I had ever
seen. At first I thought it was stained glass in the sunlight, but then when I
put my glasses on I realized they were individual crayons glued to a wooden
cross. A cross of many colors- just like we are. The minister even
quoted one of my, and his, favorite authors- Max Lucado and a story from one of
his books about a daughter in South America who left her family to go to the
city-
No
matter what you've done,
No
matter what you've become,
All
is forgiven,
Please
come home.
It
was an affirmation, along with the Scripture verse about being in prison from 2
Timothy, the sermon about prodigal children, songs they sang, and being
welcomed "just as we were", that Jesus calls all His children to come
to Him, no matter their condition and He will love them. It is great to be
back home with our family at Kingwood UMC, but there are countless
"lost children" behind bars in prison and behind bars of their
own making who need God's love. I hope I will never forget to share God's love
with everyone I meet, behind bars or out in the free world.
Thank
you all again for your prayers, your cookies (we re-counted, bagged,
re-boxed, cut corners of the baggies and organized over 3,800 dozen cookies for
the Kairos weekend), the Agape meal on Friday for the team, bringing the
bar BQ meat that was left behind in the Tin Roof frig (Thanks Hank and
Nancy Bray), for absolutely everything you did to help us reach
out in love to the men in white in Polunsky this past weekend. You are
awesome!
Your KUMC Kairos team:
Dave and Linda Andrus, Krisie Brown, Patrick Evans,
John and Connie Fetzer, Lynn and Purvis Harper and John Hensley.
Woody’s Letter
This letter is an attempt for me to share the blessing
I received from a Kairos Prison Ministry weekend on Oct. 19-22, 2006. Our
teams from our church included: John Hensley, John Fetzer, Doug Chapman, Purvis
and Lynn Harper and Chris Harrison.
I agreed to participate to help my friends John and
Doug, but my motives were wrong because I didn’t think I would have much in
common with the “men in white” or inmates at Polinsky Unit in
I went through training for Kairos weekend in the
fall of 2005, but a guard was caught smuggling ammunition into the prison and
we couldn’t get in due to a “lock down”. Seven years prior to that I
didn’t get to participate in a prison ministry due to another “lock down”.
Four of the six men in white at our discussion table admitted their offense as
murder charges landed them in prison. One of the 42 in our Kairos
participants was a “white supremacist”, another was a black gang leader, and
another was a Hispanic gang leader. It was obvious to me that only a
miracle from God could change their hearts as the closing ceremony for the
weekend included these men hugging and crying on each other. One of our 6
was named Paul, who grew up picking cotton and didn’t attend school after the 6th
grade. Paul stated profound phrases throughout the weekend like “mamma
always said “What you practice at is what you good at.” Paul was a
physical specimen from his lengthy workouts and strong as a bull. His
statements were passionate, but often filled with anger. Once he stated,
“It’s hard to receive the love you guys are giving us this weekend.” Paul
ate so many homemade cookies on Friday that he had to take an antacid and told
us on Sat. that he had to spend a lot of time “on the throne”, Friday evening!
Kenneth told me he had 7 children, a very long
sentence for murder, and was used by his brothers to carry drugs at age
5. I was touched by this man’s comments about his conversation he was
planning to share with his children on their next visit, to tell them about how
God had touched his life on this Kairos weekend. Another “brother in
white” hadn’t seen his son in 17 years (age 5-22). He sobbed, “Now I know
what to tell my son when he comes to visit next month for the 1st
time in 17 years. He had promised a visit.
My favorite transformation was Lewis, age 60, and 9
more years to his sentence for murder. Lewis was very shy in front of
people and didn’t speak much unless he was pressed. Lewis confessed he
had signed up because he heard the food was good. During one moment of
the weekend, Lewis prayed out loud: “Dear God, this is Lewis. I’m sorry
it’s been so long since the last time I spoke to you. You know I’m kinda
slow and it takes me 3-4 times to get it, but there is a wall between you and
me and I promise I’m going to go around it or break it down this time.
And God, it’s been a long time since my family has come to visit me and it
hurts real bad since I love them so much. Could you please heal our
relationships and tell them I love them? I promise it won’t be so long
until the next time I talk to you. I love you, Amen.”
Lewis promised he would start attending church
services in prison, but shared that he thought it would be very difficult to be
a Christian in prison. Lewis seemed very honest and real and wanted to
“rebuild his life.”
One of the brothers in white was a huge man. He
could not read or write so one of the stewards or volunteers had to read his
letter from our team and other inmates to him. He told me he had never
felt love before this weekend!
Another brother in white couldn’t start reading his letters
because of the tears flowing, since Shannon, a 2nd grader, had
stamped her handprint in ink on the outside of his bag with the statement, “I
hope what is in this bag help you to start your life over.”
Apparently there had been a hunger strike on Death
Row for 8 days. Our Kairos cookies (all 3,000 prisoners received 1 dozen
homemade cookies) ended that hunger strike. Delivering the cookies on
Death Row was very moving for me. Approximately 150 knew their execution
date and were housed in a different section than the 350 who hadn’t received
their date yet. The death row inmates were allowed 1 hour per day outside
their cells to spend in a larger secured area.
The minimum security (G-1) area of the prison was
referred to as the dorm and housed approximately 150 inmates in each of the 4
sections in this building.
The music team that I was blessed to participate with
were unbelievably talented! These men were strong believers and played
music and sang for church services in prison. I was able to leave the
songbooks my wife and I made for the weekend with the prison chaplain for those
men to use in future gatherings along with some guitar picks.
My prayer for these men is for God to continue to
work in their lives as we learn that we are all sinners saved by grace and that
Christians aren’t perfect, but we are forgiven! The brothers in white had
the same feeling and thoughts that any of us experience. Their bad
choices have taken away their freedom and all that was dear to them. But as
one steward told me “for the first time in my life, I feel free. I didn’t
have the strength to break away from the drugs and my peer group.”
I concluded after this weekend that church sponsored
programs have the best results in reform of their lives, and that we all came
searching for something. I saw the love of Christ in my fellow man, and
not our failures. This Kairos weekend humbled me to help me appreciate
the many blessings God gives us everyday.
The director of the volunteers for this weekend, John
Hensley, stated, “Remember this moment. No one can ever take it
away.” I am thankful to God for allowing me to be a part of leading
others to know Him and help rebuild lives.
May
God bless you,
Woody
Barksdale
I JUST GOT TO LET IT GO
“I just got to let it go.”
It was a phrase a man kept repeating as he walked forward during a forgiveness
service. The look in his eyes told me that it was important to him.
It somehow struck him as amazing. In this one event he realized why he
was at this Kairos weekend. I was not sure what part amazed him, but as a
pastor I assured him; “yes, you do need to let it go.” Each time he said
the phrase the meaning seemed to change. It moved from being a question
“I just got to let it go?” to a realization, “I just got to let it go.” to
finally a statement “I just got to let it go!” Then the last time he said
it looked as though a realization hit him. It was beyond his own power to
forgive. To which I assured him, “Give it to God”.
The next morning Stephen said he really needed to talk with me. He
had not slept all night, and I knew he really needed to talk. As we
talked, he spoke of the wrong that had happened. A year before, his cell
mate had attacked him in the middle of the night. Shortly after the
incident, his cellmate had been moved to another part of the prison.
Stephen said “I am a patient man, and I was waiting for my opportunity for some
payback.” So for the past year Stephen had been working out, getting into
shape and biding his time for revenge. Then the week before the
Kairos weekend Stephen’s old cellmate was transferred right into the same tier
as Stephen. The problem was that if Stephen got his revenge—right
now—then he would not be able to attend Kairos and eat the great food we were
offering, so he put it off and figured that on Monday his time would
come.
As we talked, Stephen realized that he had placed a great deal of
importance on gaining revenge. He had become defined by his desire for
revenge. His life had become consumed by revenge. Stephen seemed
stunned that God knew him so well. He was amazed that he had been placed
at this moment at this place to learn about forgiveness. We spoke for
quite some time when Stephen made a confession. Following the forgiveness
service we had given the men an extra dozen cookies to give as a peace offering
to anyone they desired. Steven did not have the courage to give this man
his cookies. He considered sending the cookies through a friend, but he
realized that would not be sufficient.
Stephen looked me in the eyes and said, “I must be the one to deliver the
cookies and tell him that I forgive him.” I said, “You know that I can
not tell you what you must do.” Yet I wanted to say “YES!” I could tell
by the look in his eyes that he somehow knew that his road to freedom lay upon
this path. His freedom from hate, and bitterness, and his freedom from
his old life—it all was down this road. He knew the risk of following
God. It was a path he had never chosen to walk, until now. Paul wrote
in Philippians 3:7-8 “ But whatever was to my profit I now
consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider
everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I
may gain Christ.”
Stephen’s entire way of living was being challenged by God. His view of
the world was being transformed. God was asking Stephen to let go of the
most precious thing in his life. Revenge had become his reason for
living. But now God’s love had replaced that reason and filled him with a
more powerful passion. What is amazing is that what God asked for Stephen
to give up was poison. Yet in the forgiveness of his cellmate Stephen
provides a witness to the world of Christ’s redeeming
love.
Rev. Patrick Evans
http://pastorpatscorner.blogspot.com