Seventy-five men joined us today for what turned out to be an amazing afternoon of fellowship! This was our second time back to Gulf C.I. The guys were already all in the chapel when we arrived, so they got to see just what it takes for two old people, one of whom is legally blind, to drag their equipment in and set it all up... AFTER getting it loaded up and going through rigorous check-in procedures. To say that they were grateful is definitely an understatement, and they made it worth every drop of sweat and every aching muscle. You should have HEARD them singing along! God is GREAT!
"I can always tell when you guys have been here, because people act different..." WOW! What a testimony! We pray that the inmates we fellowship with will take to heart the Message of the Gospel, and allow it to change them for good!
150 men hung out with us today, and what a wonderful time it was! Because our name is 'Boo Radley,' we always tell audiences that we're the only band that doesn't mind it when you 'BOOOO!' Many of the men in attendance today had seen us here before As they entered the room, they cheered, "BOOOO!' We knew right from the start that this was going to be a great day, and boy was it! THANK YOU for sending us in here! We can't do this alone!
We did two shows here at Wakulla Annex today, as they house different levels of security and can't mix the populations. We always feel this place profoundly and hold these men so deeply in prayer.
They always show us great respect and not a second goes by that we don't absolutely know that this is worth our time and energy!
They even provided our very first 'green room' behind bars!!
"No hot water for a shower... not a big deal, right?...
we're used to obstacles every single morning
when we do these shows."
Not an untrue statement, lol.
But we are not deterred;
we are more determined than ever!
What is the saying? "Man plans, God laughs?"
Well, so much for our well-laid plan and communications with the chaplain from this facility... he retired two weeks before our arrival, and no one had any knowledge of our scheduled show!
After parking in a forbidden zone (!!) and finally making our way through a rigorous check-in, we were so thankful to be greeted by a couple of awesome trustees who were extremely grateful and happy that we were there. They literally went around knocking on dorm doors telling the men that a gathering is taking place right that moment in the chapel! This ended up being a really nice afternoon after a graciously warm welcome from the inmates, and we look forward to going back!
Oops! We chuckle in hindsight, but MAN! We won't make THIS mistake again!
In her own defense, though, Patty holds to the explanation that the red gate with the stop sign on it was open, and pretty unnoticeable! Meanwhile, Michael sat innocently in the passenger seat. He was approached by a guard (presumably armed, but Michael couldn't tell) who told him he needed to move the car. When Michael explained that he is legally blind and can't move the car, the guard probably felt a bit of relief. Perimeter roads are NOT for civilian traffic. Lesson learned!
This loading ramp is a challenge, but we made it! We successfully ministered The Gospel to just about 100 men, who seemed to listen intently. These guys always make us feel welcome, and we look forward to going back in soon!
Fifty-five men joined us this afternoon for what turned out to be a great time afternoon to share The Gospel! When we explained to them all we had gone through that day to be there, they were really grateful. We're tellin' ya... this is NOT for sissies, lol! We can tell our presence means so much to so many of the incarcerated individuals we have visited. And it means so much to us that you help us do this! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
...that we were indeed supposed to be at the ACI WEST Unit today, where we had gone in the first place!! Sooooo... after trudging up two ramps with all of our equipment and going through a very stringent check-in, we were met by the chaplain who was very apologetic that we had been misinformed. He told us that the men at the West Unit were eagerly looking forward to our coming today. Only one solution: pack it all up, load it down two ramps, put it back in the car, take it to the West Unit, go through check-in, get to the chapel, set up, and do our show!
Soooo... since the chaplain was currently at the East Unit a mile down the road, it was assumed that we were supposed to be performing at the East Unit today, and had gotten our information mixed up. No worries... we hadn't unloaded our gear yet. We'll just drive over there and do the show...
"This is never not intimidating, is it?" No, not really! But a quick reminder of Whose armor we are so feebly trying to wear takes those fears away.