Lil Brother
New member
Last night began one of two prison trips that we in The Witness do. For all the newcomers, The Witness is a musical passion play that Carol and I are involved in telling the wonderful story of Jesus, from birth til death til he rose again on the third day.
The Witness usually runs May through October every year and in the "off" season, we do prison ministries. It is almost a full time job without the benefits of monetary pay. This is my fifth year of being involved and my third to serve on the board, always planning always trying to figure out how to keep the finances rolling in our non-profit play.
Last night started out much like the prison ministries normally do. First, the background checks had to be done on all the cast and crew and once there, we gave our car keys to one of the guards, walked through the GARRETT METAL DETECTOR and proceeded to the gym. The sound crew arrived a couple of hours before the cast to set up and test the sound equipment.
This is a prison for kids approximately 14-18 years old. They are there for all kinds of crime. The perimeter has 8 ft chain link fences with razorwire on top. They live in what looks like dormitories, but inside each one are individual cells.
Just like last time, it looked like a lot of the kids came out of shear boredom. I saw a lot of them stretched out in their chairs doing everything but watching the show. There were approximately 200-250 kids there with 3/4s of them being boys.
The show went as scheduled with all the cast reaching out to the kids, trying to make eye contact with all of them that we could. We knew that for some of them it would be the closest they would ever come to anything spiritual. A lot of them came from broken homes with crackheads,(their parents), as role models.
The show lasted about 2 1/2 hours with the kids applauding loudly at the end and between scenes. This year afer it was over, for the first time ever, The Witness got to do an altar call for the kids. The actor that portrayed the Apostle Peter is really a Baptist minister in real life. He told them that if THEY wanted to, they could come down to the front and that someone would talk to them and pray with them. It was all kept confidential.
I was totally amazing when at least 75 kids came down and overwhelmed our cast. I personally got to talk to five boys named Jacob, Richard, Zack, Matthew, and Page. We couldnt hug them, but we could hold their hands and talk. I actually did want to hug them though.
It was a really special time for all of us and I thank God for that. Next month we go back to the Malvern Prison for our second time. Please keep The Witness and the inmates in your prayers. For the most part, the inmates deserve to be there, but they also deserve a chance to hear about our Lord and Savior.
God Bless,
Lil Brother
The Witness usually runs May through October every year and in the "off" season, we do prison ministries. It is almost a full time job without the benefits of monetary pay. This is my fifth year of being involved and my third to serve on the board, always planning always trying to figure out how to keep the finances rolling in our non-profit play.
Last night started out much like the prison ministries normally do. First, the background checks had to be done on all the cast and crew and once there, we gave our car keys to one of the guards, walked through the GARRETT METAL DETECTOR and proceeded to the gym. The sound crew arrived a couple of hours before the cast to set up and test the sound equipment.
This is a prison for kids approximately 14-18 years old. They are there for all kinds of crime. The perimeter has 8 ft chain link fences with razorwire on top. They live in what looks like dormitories, but inside each one are individual cells.
Just like last time, it looked like a lot of the kids came out of shear boredom. I saw a lot of them stretched out in their chairs doing everything but watching the show. There were approximately 200-250 kids there with 3/4s of them being boys.
The show went as scheduled with all the cast reaching out to the kids, trying to make eye contact with all of them that we could. We knew that for some of them it would be the closest they would ever come to anything spiritual. A lot of them came from broken homes with crackheads,(their parents), as role models.
The show lasted about 2 1/2 hours with the kids applauding loudly at the end and between scenes. This year afer it was over, for the first time ever, The Witness got to do an altar call for the kids. The actor that portrayed the Apostle Peter is really a Baptist minister in real life. He told them that if THEY wanted to, they could come down to the front and that someone would talk to them and pray with them. It was all kept confidential.
I was totally amazing when at least 75 kids came down and overwhelmed our cast. I personally got to talk to five boys named Jacob, Richard, Zack, Matthew, and Page. We couldnt hug them, but we could hold their hands and talk. I actually did want to hug them though.
It was a really special time for all of us and I thank God for that. Next month we go back to the Malvern Prison for our second time. Please keep The Witness and the inmates in your prayers. For the most part, the inmates deserve to be there, but they also deserve a chance to hear about our Lord and Savior.
God Bless,
Lil Brother
Sis