God called a few months ago! The calling was to help start a youth church service in the Brown County Jail. The jail chaplain had reached out and a couple of the youth pastors were going to meet up with her. I had not planned to be part of it, it wasn't me and I was busy. Leading up to this meeting, God had worked on my heart through a variety of ways. The Sunday evening before, I had Becky Larson share her heart about prison ministry and writing letters to inmates. The day of the meeting, I decided to meet up with the youth pastors for lunch and pray with them. I didn't know then, but God kept pushing me forward one step at a time. After lunch, I knew I wasn't able to tour the jail because I had not done the paperwork; but figured I could at least meet the chaplain. I met the chaplain and listened as she shared her heart about what they had been praying for. I was hooked.
Things kept snowballing forward. The jail did a fast background check of me and I was able to tour the jail. I observed and listened as we went through the various parts of the jail. The sound of the first heavy door shutting behind me still gives me an eerie feeling. The individuals I saw, I had a love inside of me, and realized that Jesus loved these people even though they made some type of mistake that put them in there. I kept listening. Then I heard it, need after need! My creativity started to click, my heart felt the need, I saw opportunity, what could we do? We finished the meeting talking about what a youth service would look like and committed to praying over partnering with the jail and left.
What could I do? What could we do? What were the needs? How can we meet the needs? We need to do something. In the time there, I saw three opportunities apart from a youth church service. Two I have acted on and one is still a plan for the future.
Observation One: There was a need mentioned by the chaplain for study Bibles. She mentioned that individuals were giving their life to Jesus and were reading the Bible. The problem was that sometimes they didn't understand what they were reading. The only two options for their questions to be answered was to ask for the chaplain or wait for a Bible study and ask the leader of the study. A study Bible was an answer to this problem. It would help them go deeper and be able to understand with the commentary! In December, I launched a Facebook group called Study Bibles for Inmates. I was talking with people and churches. If we could just get one study Bible into the jail, it would make a difference! I asked and people responded. My youth group responded. From December to February, we have been able to donate 40 study Bibles to the Brown County Jail! One of stories was amazing. One individual donated a 100 dollars and our student ministry kicked in 50 dollars from proceeds of their soda machine. I took that money and went to Christian Book Distributor website. I found study Bibles for ten bucks! I purchased 15 and found a promo code for free shipping. The final cost for 15 study Bibles was $150 and the total retail and shipping would have been $800! God is awesome!
Observation Two: As we walked through the jail, I asked the chaplain if any church or organization did anything for the juveniles during Christmas? No she replied; I had found another need. I went on to Christian Book Distributor and purchased "What on earth am I here for" by Rick Warren. Then I went and ordered from Oriental Trading Christmas playing cards, Chrismas Carol activity books, and winter penguin pencils that said Jesus loves me. All four gifts were approved by the jail and were handed out on Christmas!
Observation Three: I asked if anyone had done anything creative with the juveniles? I asked specifically about painting. I was told that at one time a college student had planned too, but never followed through. Another opportunity! This one I have not put into action, but it could become a reality down the road.
When I dropped off those last 15 study Bibles, I was asked about a possible fill-in for one of the program leaders. The leaders were going on vacation and the chaplain wanted to open up those nights for youth pastors to lead church services. This would be a trial run for a future youth service and also a great opportunity to build a relationship between the jail and the Green Bay youth pastors! I committed to the first night and was ready to start building that foundation.
The week leading up to the first youth service, I prepared myself as best as possible. Exchanging emails with the chaplain, talking with Nic (another youth pastor that does jail ministry and invests in students) and getting advise from him, spending time reading the jail manual, and preparing a youth service and getting teaching materials approved by jail administration. I also had my year and a half of working boarding school; which would help with following the jail structure and recognizing potential issues or manipulations. I also prayed a lot, this was going to be one of the hardest things I have done and my fear level was high. I knew a lot was riding on this. I wanted to build great trust between the youth pastors and the jail. I knew the chaplain gave her support of me coming in and didn't want to let her down. I wanted to make sure I followed the rules, respected the officers, and was as serious and professional as possible. I also wanted to invest in students lives and knew that I might not see any results in one attempt. A lot of pressure.
The night of was crazy! I barely slept the night before, waking up many times. I was really nervous all day and watched the hours slip by. I prayed a lot. I left the house and headed off to church to get my book that had a story I was going to read. As I was leaving church, I realized I was behind schedule. I jumped on the highway and before I knew it, I had missed my exit! I had done this before and I knew how many miles out of the way it would be. I got there ten minutes before I was supposed to be and started the check in process. I was given the iPad connector to connect my iPad to the tv; wrong connector! Man, the enemy was working me over tonight. The chaplain came down and let me borrow her iPad, I was saved!
The next hour and half will forever go down as one of my biggest wins in life! I was able to lead a game, lead music (those that know my singing ability, would say that was a big win in itself), and a message to the students. I saw them truly connect with the music, game went great, and the message was okay. I walked away encouraged knowing I was in the right place at the right time and doing the right thing.
I have currently committed to fill whatever weeks are needed. Travis one of my youth pastor friends is doing one of the weeks. I am stoked for him! I have also committed myself to praying for these students and we are still collecting study Bibles. I am excited for this opportunity to come alongside the jail and represent Jesus! When God calls, what is your answer going to be?
about a year later, I ran into one of these students and she remembered me. I thought she was a face I remembered from the YMCA, but she asked me if I had another job. Which eventually led to yeah, I remember you coming and speaking to us. Wow! I would have never guessed the impact that would have made a lasting impression! I spent the rest of the night trying to recall her name, me being horrible with names...it came to me right as my YMCA shift was coming to an end. It was a difficult name, a name I had butchered when I first met her, but a name that I could recall from my memory. As I was leaving, I saw her in one of the gyms and went up to her; I said her name (Correctly) which brought a big smile to her face. We never know what God has in His plans when He call us, we will never know the encouraging impact by simply remembering a name; but God does and He gets the glory out of it!
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