Team Responses

I rode with Russ McNeil to the Hughes unit on Saturday for the training session, but was not allowed in. There was a screw up on the list of team members. Someone had lost it, and I wasn't on the old one. Russ went in for two hours, came out, and drove us home. The ride and conversation made the trip worthwhile, but I feel grieved that my promise to the brothers in white at my table may think I broke my promise to them.

That was probably my last visit to Texas Kairos unless a miracle happens and someone pays my air fare to Texas next fall so I can be a part of the clergy team.

Now for my impressions of the weekend:

The physical and mental condition of the pilgrims was much worse than any Kairos pilgrims I have encountered in the twenty odd years I have shared in this ministry. The anguish, fear, unbelief, anger, near despair, cast an aura over the separate tables I really doubted could be penetrated by us. The physical illnesses of several, death sentences really, with HIV and Hepatitis C added to the mix.

I admit I doubted if unconditional love shown to these felons would penetrate their armour. Yet as the first day turned into the second, and the second into the third, I found myself being used in a pastoral capacity unequaled in my 42 years of ministry. These men opened up to me, and listened when I offered them counsel. They knew I was praying for them as they talked, and they accepted verbal prayers, even the laying on of hands to convey God's Spirit to them.

I didn't have to wait until their graduation ceremony to see that great differences had taken places in the lives of many. I saw hope reborn. I saw fellowship grow - often between men who had despised each other before the weekend began.

The closing ceremony was too long, and several men took unfair advantage of the audience by coming to the mike two or three times and by talking interminably making few coherent points.

Yet the witness given at that closing was the most poignant and heart touching I have ever heard. If these men were acting, they missed their calling, for they could have received academy awards for their performance. The one man who confessed Christ as his Lord, and confessed his crime of murder before the whole congregation will always remain in my heart. I have never found myself in such a position, and could never consider myself strong enough to stand beside a brother in that way - in all honesty, it was the Spirit of God that led me to that man, and the Spirit of God who loosed the man's tongue.

The team with which we worked were great and powerful men, and this includes the stewards. The talks given were very well done, and their witness was seen in the reaction of the men. Piano's confessison of faith will remain with me always. I plan to pray for him until I die, or until he is released to serve God in the outside world.

The other two ordained clergy gave of themselves unstintingly. I was honored to serve with them. We loved each other, we teased each other, and we shared the ministry in a brotherhood that may not have been matched by the Apostles themselves.

In addition I must say that the employees of the prison, guards and chaplains showed patience and tolerance for us, going far beyond the call of duty. The extra hours they put in must have been exhausting. Their courtesy was a great witness to us and the brothers in white. Chaplain Bertran's eloquent witness at the closing was amazing and very touching. He belongs in that ministry. May God give him the strength and power to continue for years to come.

So my friends............Peace be with

you. And may His Holy Spirit sustain you and those we serve.

Listen Listen. Love Love. Means more to me now. I am most grateful I was a part of that blessed Kairos!

Bob McKewin

Hi, all,

Several of us went to the Hughes Unit last night for their First Annual Easter Pageant. It was great! The warden said that almost 400 inmates attended the presentation on Thurs evening. I kept thinking about how these inmates were in a maximum security prison for doing something they did, and here they are now putting on a play about Jesus' life and death. What an affirmation of the importance of our call and our obedient work! Many of the guys in the play were candidates from this last Kairos (Hughes #6). One of the other inmates from a past Kairos told us that there is a peace and decreasing tension in the entire unit since last weekend. The warden said we are going to get satan out of there along w/all his demons. PTL!! The warden is a Christian also, so that really helps the Lord's cause. I'm sure he isn't there by accident, tho. :-)

Last weekend was the Hughes Kairos #6, and the candidates were from "3 Bldg" -- protective custody, where the homosexuals, lawyers, judges, men who are small in stature and can't protect themselves, etc., are housed. This was a big undertaking and not sure if it's ever been done before in other units. What a powerful time! The warden told us last night that one of the candidates asked for a chaplain yesterday (or the day before) and gave his life to Christ. I'm wondering if he was the one who said he was a pagan and refused to accept Christ by Sunday. I'm still not able to summarize the weekend, but perhaps when you read the statements made by the candidates at open mike and at the closing, you will get a picture of God's hand in the weekend. God loves all his children even when they (we) make mistakes. We must remember that all sins separate us from our Father and no sin is greater than the next. A sin is a sin is a sin. Some people just need more nudging than others, and these guys were flooded with the love of Christ over the weekend. What a "nudging" that was!! ;)

As I've said before, the candidates are not the only ones who are changed over the weekend. There is no way a person can work on a Kairos team (inside or outside) and not be touched by the love of Christ and remain unchanged. The correctional officers and everyone else are affected and will see the changes in the inmates, which only makes things better all the way around. I am so thankful that I was chosen by the Lord to be a part of this ministry. If anyone thinks we Kairos volunteers are overzealous, then I suggest you come and see the reason for our enthusiasm. God is good all the time!! ;)

YSIC, Karen

Report on Hughes Kairos 6

You could see as they walked in that this was going to be a different kind of Kairos. On a "normal" Kairos the men swagger and posture to each other as they arrive. Hughes has 3,000 men and most don’t know each other, so they try to say with their body language "I’m a dangerous man, don’t start anything with me!" These men walked in looking scared. The chaplain had told us that he had been asked to select men from where Satan was the strongest, and he had selected all these men from Building 3. Building 3! Protected custody, where men were never allowed to leave without an officer escort to protect them. Building 3 where all the gender confused and overt homosexuals from every prison in Texas had been transferred. Building 3 where although only a few ever came to chapel, those few caused so much trouble that the chapel had to be divided because "general population" would not associate with them. Not all of these men were homosexuals, but many of those who weren’t were AIDS, HIV, or hepatitis C carriers. On reflection these men had good reason to be scared, in addition to the outside team there were 29 brothers in white from general population serving as stewards.

My first thought was that God certainly had his work cut out for Him, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. I have never seen men respond as quickly as these did. As one man said -- People who said they loved me had always hurt me. My parents beat me because they loved me. My customers who used me, hurt me and said it was love. I didn’t think God could love me because it didn’t hurt. I didn’t know what real love looked like.-- These men were so hungry for Christ’s love that I believe they would have walked across broken glass barefoot to get it, but even as they found it they still seemed to be scared.

Saturday night’s "open mike" rules are very clear, the mike is only for the candidates, the message is to be less than two minutes, and no thanks are allowed. About half way through open mike something remarkable happened. First the head steward came to the mike and said that he wanted these men to know that they were welcome. Then other stewards came with the same message. Finally the head table steward came to the mike and actually apologized for his behavior in the past toward the people of 3 building, and promised to stand with them in the future. He knew as he said it that word would leave the chapel and that it would cause him problems "out in the yard" but he said with tears flowing "how can I not love those who are loved by my Lord? How can I not stand with my brothers now if we are to stand together before God?" With that apology Fear lost control to the Holy Spirit.

I have never seen so many, or so emotional professions of faith as I witnessed on this weekend. Nor have I ever seen the physical changes that I saw this weekend. Men who had come on Thursday with female hairstyles, plucked eyebrows and makeup were almost unrecognizable when they came back with all those things gone the next weekend. Nor I am not the only one to see these changes. The other men in 3 building see them too. They are offering sums as high as $80.00 for the cross candidates received as part of the weekend. One man said "They want to buy my cross so the can have what I got. I told them they don’t want my cross they want the One who was on it. I said I paid for my cross with my tears and my surrender and they can have what they want if they want to pay that price. I said the cross wasn’t magic but His love does work wonders."

Thank you! What you have done with your prayers, your letters and placemats, and your cookies isn’t magic, but God has used your efforts to create miracles. I thank God for what you have done, and for allowing me to watch Him do His wonders.

Reb