Twin Rivers in Monroe

Earlier in the day I was at the Orting Pumpkin Fest, on the Worthy Music Ministries' Family Stage, and from there my wife and I drove to Monroe to minister in music at the Twin Rivers Unit.

There were three of us.  Eric Kristofferson, me and our group leader Bob Rogers.  After checking in and going through the gate we began the walk through the courtyard to the Chapel, discussing how the service might go.  You always say "might" because you never really know what will be added or taken away so you have to be flexible.

On the drive up there I was telling my wife, Liv, how frustrating the whole thing can be.  As I said, we had just left Orting and the rain had made the audience very scarce, so I had just finished singing for about 6 people.  For me, when that tends to happen I re-think about what I'm doing.  I know it's not so much how many people are there but how many people are effected by what the songs have to say.  Still, I tend to think in numbers and I shouldn't.

The answer, or reason, I shouldn't think in numbers was given when I walked in the door of the Chapel and saw it was full with only 10 or so chairs empty.  As Bob began asking the men if they had any prayer requests or anything they wanted to take a few minutes and talk about, one by one, men came up to me in the back to shake my hand and tell me how glad they were that I was there.

See, now this caught me off guard.  Just a few hours earlier I was having a great pity party about my music and singing and now I was being welcomed by inmates who were glad I was there.  God has this way of saying to me you're singing where and what I want you to sing.

I listen intently to music out there on the radio, both Christian and none, and I am always saying to myself I could right that kind of a song.  Then I set down to write that kind of a song and God takes it in a different direction.  I'm not destined to sing fun la la la songs, or be known as a writer who writes them.  It seems my writing is destined to speak of how God's Grace can pull you out of your living Hell and place your feet on solid Rock, Christ.  I sang with a CD and when I wrote on the CD "TRU" and the date 10-10-10 I knew something was going to be special about that day.

After my set I was looking forward to sitting down and listening to the message for the evening but God had more I needed to hear.  A young man, 24 years old, came to the back and asked if we could talk outside the Chapel.  Just outside the Chapel door, at the guards desk and across from the barber shop I heard what I don't often hear.  He lifted his left hand to show me the calices on his fingers and told me that he started taking guitar lessons because of me.  He said, "I want to play the guitar just like you." and that my music and message, from the last time I played there, was his inspiration.  He said, "I'm Not Dead Yet either and I believe God has a plan for me too."  Then, like the young man he is, he said "I think you're the coolest old guy I know.  There's a lot of old singers out there that don't say anything to me in their music but even though you're old you're still the coolest."

As a Christian singer/songwriter who goes from one gig to the next many times, or most of the time,  I never hear how my music might have effected the audience.  I hear with claps and so on right after the song is done but I always wonder if my music stayed with them.  After hearing this young man share with me I knew I would be revived for at least the next ten years.  My music isn't hitting the charts, or even on FM radio but it's the music I need to be writing, playing and singing because there are those who need to hear it and are inspired by it.

I once again want to thank Prisoners for Christ for allowing me to minister in music and I'm looking forward to what 2011 will bring.

Special Offenders Unit - Monroe August 8th

Back in Monroe at the Special Offender Unit.  Built in 1980, the year I released my first album.  This time the volunteers joining me were Payton Burkhart & Bonzi Mark.  It wasn't explained to me what the "Bonzi" stood for but both Payton and Mark have a real calling to minister to the men at Monroe.  

I guess there was a baseball game on so the attendance was small, 6 men.  I think the Seahawks were playing so you can't miss that.  Anyway, it's always a pleasure to share with the men about God's Grace and what he's done in my life and what he can do in theirs.  One of the men will be released at the end of August and our prayer for him was that he get into the right crowd and keep the Lord first in his heart.

The building spreads out much more but this is what you see as you drive up the hill.

You can see the main entrance about the middle of the picture and this particular facility sure has a lot of barbed wire around it.  It was cloudy but not a drop of rain too.  Every time I walk into a facility I can't help but think "There but the Grace of God go I."

Monroe WSR Concert July 11th

 

I could not have had a more beautiful day to drive to Monroe if I'd placed an order for it.  Blue skies and no traffic.  The road to WSR is on the right and before I drove up the road I had to stop and take a few pictures.

I'm not sure but according to the sign it appears the Washington State Reformatory (WSR) was built in 1910.

From out side the Visitors building I would take a guess that it was built in 1910.  To me it's a beautiful building.  The Visitors building, the one on the right is where we go to check in before entering the main area to the right of the picture.

Once inside no pictures are allowed.  It took about 15 minutes to pass through all the gates, about 5 of them, to reach the Chapel.  Steve Clines, the Prisoners For Christ Team Leader, arrived with 3 other men about 20 minutes after I'd gotten there and the last one showed up about 10 minutes before we went through the security check desk.  This was the largest Prisoners for Christ team I'd entered with and it was a good thing too.  When we entered the Chapel I was surprised to see 65 inmates getting ready for that evening. Interesting thing I noticed this trip. Every institution I've gone to has the same smell.  We always seem to go through areas where inmates are meeting with their loved ones on the outside, and the always ever present smell is popcorn.

As I got my mic and guitar equipment set up the PFC volunteers, along with some inmates, were prayer over an inmate who is to be released within the next week.  As I set everything up I was praying too.  Praying that he would have support on the outside and have the strength to decide not to go down the same road that brought him to WSR.

There has never been a time when I've left an institution less blessed than when I went in to minister in song.  The inmates always seem to take the moment I'm there and fill it up with as much richness and blessing as they can.  The Holy Spirit filled the Chapel Sunday and once again I felt blessed to be there.  I ministered in song for about 50 minutes and every song I picked for the evening seemed to be the right songs everyone needed to hear.

After my music two inmates got up and gave their testimony with both of them making reference to my newest song, "I'm Not Dead Yet".  They spoke of how, even though they are in prison, they're not Dead yet and have more to do in their lives.  That, for now, proclaiming the Gospel to other inmates is their mission and WSR is their mission field.  I often sing not knowing if what I sing is touching the hearts of those listening but Sunday I was blessed to hear from those who approached me afterward that my music spoke to their hearts.

I often sing at venues where I have someone come up afterward and I recognize them from another venue I sang at.  This time I had an inmate, James, who came up and I recognized him from a different unit I had ministered to earlier this year.  He shared with me that his mother recently accepted Christ and that his brother voluntarily is going through drug treatment.  He shared with me that something he did caused him to land in WSR from a different unit and that it pushed out his parole by a year.  But he shared that because he found the strength, through Christ, to be open and honest about what he did the consequences were less than minimal.  Again I was amazed by his attitude.  So many of us on the outside complain about the most trivial things in our life and how hard things are.  We rarely stop to admit that the way things are in our lives may be because it's our fault. 

Here's a picture as you drive down the road to leave WSR.  I rarely see the building like this because most of the times I've ministered there it's been dark when I leave.

Olympic Correction Center - Forks, WA

 

I got an email earlier in the week from Chaplin Mark Richardson offering me a ride up to OCC with him and Jim Dixon and that turned out to be an answer to prayer.  They picked me up at around 12:45, we loaded Jim's car and took off to Forks from Tacoma.  

I'm not sure what time we got to Aberdeen but it was decided that it was time to eat so Jim located a restaurant, we parked and unloaded ourselves out of his car.  Mark got out and took only a few step and then went to his knees.  (see above picture)  At first I thought he was giving thanks to God for getting us as far as we got because of Jim's driving but it turned out he had dropped his phone.

 

It turned out that we got there about 45 min earlier than when we could arrive so they picked a spot and we pulled off to rest until it was time to go to the Gate.  The above picture is Jim pretty much in la la land about 5 min after adjusting his car seat back.

We were surrounded by the beauty of God's creation and in those moments I can't help but think of how much more wonderful it would all be if sin hadn't entered into the world.  Above is a picture of two dear that had we aloud them to, they would have come right up to the car and let us feed them.

Mark road in the back seat all the way there and back to Tacoma.  His job was two fold.  First, he was to preach the Gospel of Christ to the inmates at OCC.  Second, his job was to open and close the cooler next to him in the back seat and hand Jim or I a coke or bottled water as we drove down the road.

After checking in at the Gate we headed to the chapel to set up the equipment for that evening.  Just after turning onto the road to the chapel there was the official sign of OCC and Jim patiently stopped and waited while I snapped this picture.

Wow, taped in different places around the chapel was this poster.  It's still strange to me when I sing somewhere and see posters like the one above.  But it confirmed for me that we were indeed in the right place.

As I began setting up my equipment and running sound checks Jim, like the true songwriter and musician he is began playing the piano.  We musicians are all alike.  We see a lonely piano just sitting there and it's like it calls us to come, sit down and do what we can to produce music from its metal strings, ivory keys and wooden frame.

The Chapel is a wonderful building.  The inside is fairly simple in design but it's functional.  After doing my sound check and Jim was finished playing the piano the 3 of us could easily tell there was something missing,... it was too quite.  We needed men to sit in the empty chairs that were waiting patiently for souls to fill them.  

All of three of us knew that it didn't matter if only one inmate showed up that night.  You could say it was the quality that mattered and not the quantity.  But, first two came through the back door and signed in, then four and then four more until there were 19.

I've said it before and I'll always say it, just as I heard Jim and Mark say it.  Most times, or really all the time for me, I get blessed from the inmates and their desire to hear the music and the Word of God than I feel my music is blessing them.

Jim and Mark gave me close to an hour to minister in music to everyone there, a few guards included and I just let the Holy Spirit take over.  The evening was cut short for some reason and we weren't really able to talk to anyone afterward.  The hope for me is that at least, just maybe I was able to plant a seed in the heart of at least one of the men who came there that night.

Monroe Special Offenders Unit

Sunday I had the awesome pleasure of ministering to inmates at the Special Offender Unit in Monroe.  It was a very intimate setting with 6 men, my wife "Liv" and Peyton Burkhart with Prisoners for Christ Ministries.  There was no PA system and for the first time in years I sang without a mic.  I wasn't sure how load my voice would be so I projected as good as I could for someone coming down with a soar throat.  Still, they seemed to enjoy the songs with their favorites being "I'm not dead yet", "Kingdom of Grace" and "Happy Birthday Jesus".

 Peyton Burkhart

Jammer's Jammin' Java & Gourmet Sandwich Shop

I'll be singing at Jammer's this Saturday October 10th @ 7:30pm.  This will be about a 2 hour concert.  They've not only got the best sandwiches I've ever had, with prices that can't be beat, but also a pool tabe, espresso and much more. 

I'll also be singing in Monroe at the MSO unit on Sunday through Prisoners for Christ Ministries.

Twin Rivers Unit September 13, 2009

Here is the Welcome sign as you enter Monroe. The first few times I ministered in music at Twin Rivers I drove right by the entrance and sign (below). It's not like they want the sign to boldly announce, "Hey, there's a Prison over here!"

I was reminded how confusing it can be when I walked through the door (picture below) and saw to my left 3 Prisoners for Christ volunteers. One of them was hugging his guitar and the other two their Bibles. I introduced myself and quickly surmised they were in the wrong Unit. They had thick accents and were so excited as they told me it was their first time ministering through Prisoners for Christ.

About ten minutes later 3 more Prisoners for Christ team members showed up and now I knew the others were in the wrong Unit. They were supposed to be at MSU, the Minimum Security Unit on the other side of the Facility. We still had time before we had to go through the check in so I drove my fellow (lost) PFC volunteers over to MSU. As I left MSU I could only pray they were allowed into the unit in time.

From the moment I first stepped in front of the Mic to the last guitar note of the last song I sang the inmates at Twin Rivers were inviting and responsive. I was able to finally share with them a new song I wrote called "I saw Jesus walk on water". It's special to me and to this unit because the song title originated at Twin Rivers. About a year ago an inmate shouted the title out after I asked if anyone had a song title in mind for a song I could write on the spot. I wrote the first verse that evening as I sang it and finished the song a few months later.

The men at Twin Rivers, as in the other facilities I sing at, warmly come up to me and shake my hand and tell me how much a song or many songs spoke right to their heart. As a songwriter I sit down and write out a song that comes to me but many times I rarely know how, or if, it says something special to a listener. Through my ministry with Prisoners for Christ I have been able to see and hear first hand from people, that, what God has allowed me to write and sing actually says and means something to others and that the message is getting through to the lost and the saved.

September 13, 2009

This Sunday I'll be ministering to the inmates at Twin Rivers Unit in Monroe, Washington. I always look forward to ministering through music to all the institution Prisoners for Christ sends me to. I'm looking forward to debuting some new songs "I'm not dead yet" and "I saw Jesus walk on water".

Prisoner's For Christ Ministries

I received an email from Prisoner's For Christ Ministries explaining that their funding is very low for the month of August. Please, if you can, help support their ministry. All of us artists that sing for PFC Ministries do so voluntarily. So no money goes to us. I've linked a web site that you can click onto if you can contribute. Thanks.

A song is born

Last year I was singing at a prison and for some reason I had to stretch out my time singing. So I asked if anyone had a title for a song that didn't exist and I'd do my best to write it on the spot. One of the song titles I liked was called, "I saw Jesus walk on water". I'll be going back to that prison this year and I plan to sing the full version I've written since then.