2nd Jail Visit
On Tuesday, I made my second jail visit. For posts about my first jail visit, look in the Jail Ministry section on the right sidebar.
Over the last two weeks since my first jail visit, I have met 4 other people who participate in the FCC Jail Ministry program. Each time, their first comment was "I heard that your visit was a really wild one." I am still puzzled about what a normal visit is like. When I ask them what was different about it, they usually reply "It was not better or worse, but just different." One of the FCC people had talked to the Jail Chaplain about the visit. The chaplain looked up the visit record and said, "Oh they got inmates from the M wing! They are never supposed to get that group!" No one that I have talked with, seems to know what that means. One person commented that during our visit, the inmates wanted to talk about the devil. As I recall the meeting, that is true. Several of the inmates discussed their struggles between the Lord and the devil. They also talked about how they had to work hard to resist the devil.
Anyway, I was looking forward to seeing what a "normal" group is like. This time, my clearance papers were in order and my entry into the jail went smoothly. We entered into the meeting room and setup the chairs and alter as before. It seems like they have had some turnover in the jail staff as Dave did not recognize any of the guards (or maybe the guards are taking summer vacations). Anyway, we kept waiting for the inmates to show up. We waited for about 15 minutes, then a guard stuck her head in the door and said, "Am I supposed to be getting a group for you?"
A few minutes later, the guard returned with 3 inmates. We were surprised with how small the group was. Later, one of the inmates informed us that they had just cleared out the jail. Earlier this week, a number of inmates had been transferred from the jail to a farm in Watsonville. The farm is a low security unit that is a much better place to be: better food, control of TV channels, and more activity. As an aside, we learned that the guards control the TV channels in the jail. The inmates get 4 hours of MTV, 4 hours of CMT and 4 hours of Spanish TV.
So we began the service. The three inmates were all white, one being from Australia. The Australian had a sad story and there was an interesting dynamic between the inmates. However I do not feel comfortable giving any more detail in the blog. I don't think the inmates would appreciate it if they knew that I would be documenting their personal stories on the internet.
The service ran smoothly. As before, the level of engagement was mixed. One inmate was very engaged, one moderately and one was barely there. The service is set up to maximize the interaction with the inmates and to give them plenty of time to tell their stories. This went pretty quickly, since there was only one inmate who was totally engaged. As we left, Dave turned to me and told me that I got another non-normal meeting. Generally there are 8 to 12 inmates and the dynamic is very different with a group that size.
I don't know when or if I will be going on another jail visit. I usually go with Dave, who is going on a summer vacation the next few weeks. I may be invited to join another group, or I may wait until Dave returns, or I may be on a road trip, or I may be working again, or...
Over the last two weeks since my first jail visit, I have met 4 other people who participate in the FCC Jail Ministry program. Each time, their first comment was "I heard that your visit was a really wild one." I am still puzzled about what a normal visit is like. When I ask them what was different about it, they usually reply "It was not better or worse, but just different." One of the FCC people had talked to the Jail Chaplain about the visit. The chaplain looked up the visit record and said, "Oh they got inmates from the M wing! They are never supposed to get that group!" No one that I have talked with, seems to know what that means. One person commented that during our visit, the inmates wanted to talk about the devil. As I recall the meeting, that is true. Several of the inmates discussed their struggles between the Lord and the devil. They also talked about how they had to work hard to resist the devil.
Anyway, I was looking forward to seeing what a "normal" group is like. This time, my clearance papers were in order and my entry into the jail went smoothly. We entered into the meeting room and setup the chairs and alter as before. It seems like they have had some turnover in the jail staff as Dave did not recognize any of the guards (or maybe the guards are taking summer vacations). Anyway, we kept waiting for the inmates to show up. We waited for about 15 minutes, then a guard stuck her head in the door and said, "Am I supposed to be getting a group for you?"
A few minutes later, the guard returned with 3 inmates. We were surprised with how small the group was. Later, one of the inmates informed us that they had just cleared out the jail. Earlier this week, a number of inmates had been transferred from the jail to a farm in Watsonville. The farm is a low security unit that is a much better place to be: better food, control of TV channels, and more activity. As an aside, we learned that the guards control the TV channels in the jail. The inmates get 4 hours of MTV, 4 hours of CMT and 4 hours of Spanish TV.
So we began the service. The three inmates were all white, one being from Australia. The Australian had a sad story and there was an interesting dynamic between the inmates. However I do not feel comfortable giving any more detail in the blog. I don't think the inmates would appreciate it if they knew that I would be documenting their personal stories on the internet.
The service ran smoothly. As before, the level of engagement was mixed. One inmate was very engaged, one moderately and one was barely there. The service is set up to maximize the interaction with the inmates and to give them plenty of time to tell their stories. This went pretty quickly, since there was only one inmate who was totally engaged. As we left, Dave turned to me and told me that I got another non-normal meeting. Generally there are 8 to 12 inmates and the dynamic is very different with a group that size.
I don't know when or if I will be going on another jail visit. I usually go with Dave, who is going on a summer vacation the next few weeks. I may be invited to join another group, or I may wait until Dave returns, or I may be on a road trip, or I may be working again, or...
posted by Steve @ 2:24 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home