June 8, 2009

UPDATE
I heard from Chaplin Herbie Harris some wonderful results of our recent event. Of the 819 residents at Ellsworth Correctional Center 811 attended our recent event!!! WOW!!! I have been doing prison ministry since the early ’80′s and this has to be the most remarkable event I have ever been part of really, really, really remarkable.  So I just had to let you know. My story about the event is below…Jimmie

June 2, 2009
May 2009 Out of the Box Event – Ellsworth KS

Well it happened again!!! A choir of voices singing my songs back to me. The choir was made of 500+ inmates on the yard at The Ellsworth Correctional Center in Ellsworth, KS. I was so moved by the voices of the men singing back to me my words from their favorite songs of mine.

When we were there last Christmas they kept requesting songs of mine that I couldn’t remember the lyrics to, so I was determined not to let that happen again. While I was rehearsing it hit me just what these guys were singing. “Who I am is not at all, who I wanted to be come, where I am is not the place, I wanted to arrive, Change Me” the lyrics from “Change Me”. Do you thing they can relate or what?

I guess for me it was a wake up call to know just how effective one of my songs/sermons can be. It can get down inside a man’s heart and become the confession/prayer/mediation that gives him the desire to change, now that is powerful. I could go on with the stories of how many of these men are being touched by our message and music. Maybe sometime we can sit down and I’ll take a couple of hours to tell you story after story of the lives we see changed. It is so wonderful.

Peace,

Jimmie