We ended our weekend at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility with a closing ceremony where the participants had the chance to share their thoughts. Here's some of what they said:
"I found family. I found love. I learned I had to open up. The agape love broke me down. God's still breaking me down - and I found something else. I found forgiveness from a wonderful Christian woman and that means more to me than anything else."
"This weekend is the beginning of my involvement with Jesus..."
"I arrived here cold, tough and alone. I felt like a leper. I know if I had what I found here this weekend when I was young, I'd never have come here."
"I been lookin' for God to move. He did! This is the beginning of our revival we been prayin' about for years! "
"If I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it. If I'm going to do something that's bad, I'm going to do it real good. That's why I'm here. I was a racist. This man [a black inmate] reached out to me - not by his words but by his actions - and I can't be a racist no more."
"It is so hard to articulate the level of love that we've been shown - and can never return."
"I never had a cross. Now I got me one an' on the back it says 'Christ is counting on you.' I'm takin' it personally to impact this environment."
"Grown men DO cry!"
"This community is a loving family we didn't have before. It's our turn to show others to Christ."
"We saw time stand still. Before I came here I asked God to show me He was real. HE DID! I never been hugged so gen-u-WINELY - and I LIKE it!"
"This weekend is the beginning of a new involvement with Jesus!"
"I've prayed for five years that Kairos would come here."
"I want to thank you pretty ladies for all those brownies and cookies. I'm a diabetic and my blood sugar is over 400. I know what heaven is like 'cause I been walkin' on a cloud!"
"We gonna start a program here called 'Hug-a-thug!"
"I saw your forgiveness for our crimes. I saw real scripture being played out."
"I been locked up pretty much since I was 14. I'm 24. I got two kids out there and I love 'em to death, but that's all I got. So many speeches [talks] hit me SO many ways. Thank y'all."
"I planned to eat a good meal and be gone - but for some reason I stayed...and somehow I developed a relationship - and that was with Jesus!"
"I felt God let me down. I was going to ask God why I should accept Him. Now I gotta ask Him why He should accept me!"
"The reason sex offenders have such a hard time is because churches turn their backs on us. It's hard for men locked up for being a sex offender who never did the crime - and I'm one of them.
"When you paid me a compliment I didn't know how to take it - 'cause I never had a compliment."
"My cryin' tank is on empty."
"I can build walls. The Great Wall of China has nothing on me - but I've been given some tools [to tear down the walls]." This inmate then told us the volunteer assigned to him for the weekend had a son leaving for Iraq. He then asked all present to stand and led us in a prayer for that Marine's safety.
The last inmate to speak began with "I am not a Christian..." but as he spoke - in a somewhat convoluted manner,, it was pretty evident that he was going to know Jesus in a much deeper relationship. He closed his talk with "God bless you."