My Prison Story
November 14th, 2011 by adminI remember the first time I went into a jail—Cook County Jail, in Chicago, IL, one of the largest jails in the world. I was an 18-year-old student at a Bible college, and a group of us boldly went regularly to the jail. We believed the prisoners were unsaved and that we needed to “win them for Christ” and help them get converted. I was there to help them, bring them a blessing, and help save their souls from hell.
Some years later, my husband, now a chaplain at CCJ, started a school for prisoners. I facilitated a Bible discussion group every Friday night, bringing in and training other volunteers. By now, I had been changed by the very people I had been seeking to change. In seeking to bless, I became blessed.
I learned that the people in jail were much more like me and other volunteers than they were different from us. Of course, our circumstances were different and maybe we had made different kinds of mistakes. But, I found they became my friends, and I enjoyed sharing my life with them and having them share their lives with me. Several times, we had former prisoners live in our home. We had a slogan, “The worst part of going to jail is getting out.” That’s because housing and jobs were so difficult for these mostly severely disadvantaged youth from Chicago’s inner city.
Over the past half century, I have had the privilege of going into jails/prisons all over the U.S., training volunteers, conducting seminars, teaching classes, and meeting one-on-one and writing Bible studies, plays for prisoners, and training manuals for volunteers.
I have always found prisoners to be gracious, cooperative, positively responsive, grateful for any assistance, and truly happy to have people visit them. Most of them are like the people in this room. It has always been a great joy for me to go into a jail/prison, despite the depressing surroundings and circumstances.
I urge you to take advantage of volunteer opportunities at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail and at Fluvanna Prison. You will be blessed beyond measure.
Dell Erwin