I spent Saturday talking with some different people than the ones I met on Friday.
We got into the dorm at about 9:15 and almost everyone was still in bed. There were two guys with cleaning duty sitting at a table, so we sat down and started talking with them. They were both Christians, but, as is typical, were struggling with doing well in prison, but failing on the outside. If you think about it, we all have this problem, it's just that most of us don't go to prison because of our mistakes. Either our sins/failings aren't illegal or we just don't get caught.
I showed both men a chart that Josh Proctor showed me about four years ago. It talks about self-reliance, self-condemnation, and self-indulgence. God used it to change my life and I've been able to share it with lots of people; not all of them in prison... If you want me to show you, let me know.
After a while, Jon Kregel came in to speak. He's a former NASL soccer star who actually played with Pele and ended up doing time in Texas for cocaine possession. He's also a polyglot who speaks six languages fluently (English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Portuguese.) and is a translator for the Federal Courts in Dallas; he thought this was quite funny - a convicted felon, translating in the courts. When he was done with his story, I was able to talk with two guys, Randy and Richard, from Fort Worth who were doing time for driving a stolen car and drug possession respectively. Richard was already a Christian and Randy was not interested. He said that he didn't want to lie to me and pretend that he was interested when he knew that he would just go back to his old ways when he got out. He also said that he just wanted to do what he wanted to do and didn't want to change. I said that I understood and that he was in good company because that is exactly what Lucifer said.
I don't normally say things like that, but it was obvious to me that it needed to be said. He looked at me kind of funny, but seemed to accept the truth of my statement. At least we continued our conversation and Richard commented that he was suprised that Randy stayed and talked. Apparently, he usually just walks away. Nothing immediate came of that conversation, but God's word does not return void.
We had lunch again - not quite up to the level of day one - and I spent most of the rest of the day talking with Keith, my friend that is getting out next week and is scared spitless that he'll be back. He was very concerned about the tattoos on his arms and how they would keep him from getting a good job. I tried to encourage him to try to get the best work he could, but I was having trouble not agreeing with his logic regarding the tattoos.
Right before I left, I went over to the corner to a guy I had met at lunch, Devon. He was a Jehovah's Witness and my conversation with him is fodder for another blog...
We got into the dorm at about 9:15 and almost everyone was still in bed. There were two guys with cleaning duty sitting at a table, so we sat down and started talking with them. They were both Christians, but, as is typical, were struggling with doing well in prison, but failing on the outside. If you think about it, we all have this problem, it's just that most of us don't go to prison because of our mistakes. Either our sins/failings aren't illegal or we just don't get caught.
I showed both men a chart that Josh Proctor showed me about four years ago. It talks about self-reliance, self-condemnation, and self-indulgence. God used it to change my life and I've been able to share it with lots of people; not all of them in prison... If you want me to show you, let me know.
After a while, Jon Kregel came in to speak. He's a former NASL soccer star who actually played with Pele and ended up doing time in Texas for cocaine possession. He's also a polyglot who speaks six languages fluently (English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Portuguese.) and is a translator for the Federal Courts in Dallas; he thought this was quite funny - a convicted felon, translating in the courts. When he was done with his story, I was able to talk with two guys, Randy and Richard, from Fort Worth who were doing time for driving a stolen car and drug possession respectively. Richard was already a Christian and Randy was not interested. He said that he didn't want to lie to me and pretend that he was interested when he knew that he would just go back to his old ways when he got out. He also said that he just wanted to do what he wanted to do and didn't want to change. I said that I understood and that he was in good company because that is exactly what Lucifer said.
I don't normally say things like that, but it was obvious to me that it needed to be said. He looked at me kind of funny, but seemed to accept the truth of my statement. At least we continued our conversation and Richard commented that he was suprised that Randy stayed and talked. Apparently, he usually just walks away. Nothing immediate came of that conversation, but God's word does not return void.We had lunch again - not quite up to the level of day one - and I spent most of the rest of the day talking with Keith, my friend that is getting out next week and is scared spitless that he'll be back. He was very concerned about the tattoos on his arms and how they would keep him from getting a good job. I tried to encourage him to try to get the best work he could, but I was having trouble not agreeing with his logic regarding the tattoos.
Right before I left, I went over to the corner to a guy I had met at lunch, Devon. He was a Jehovah's Witness and my conversation with him is fodder for another blog...
No comments:
Post a Comment