open and affirming musings

At a recent Kent Ministerial Association meeting at the Kent Senior Center, several pastors represented their churches as "open and affirming faith communities." They were speaking about how their churches might be accurately represented on a church-related community website and welcoming those who practice alternative, yes, homosexual lifestyles.

Immediately, I began thinking about the inmates I visit at the regional Justice Center and other facilities who want to participate, enjoy fellowship, and grow in our solid churches. My Prisoners for Christ ministry has taught me without Christ's saving work and ongoing transformation through the Holy Spirit,  I am a really bad sinner, right next to the lowest of the low, or the hardened man.

Without God's saving work, I just might be in a worse place than any inmate I've been around.

I am changed every single day because of the Holy Spirit's progressive and sanctifying work. The churches I have attended are not "open and affirming," for a very different reason.

Some don't want those "bad sinners" around us, as if their sin would rub off on our families.  Our sins are not bad like those other people. I wonder how that attitude rubs off on them?

Here's a note from Charles Spurgeon:

"Now, when the sinner is brought to the bar, Jesus appears there Himself. He stands to answer the accusation. He points to His side, His hands, His feet, and challenges Justice to bring anything against the sinners whom He represents; He pleads His blood, and pleads so triumphantly, being numbered with them and having a part with them, that the Judge proclaims, "Let them go their way; deliver them from going down into the pit, for He has found a ransom." 

Some are afraid to have those bad people in church, as if they are worse than some already in the church. Ugh!  I am not a gracious follower /servant of Jesus Christ if I somehow communicate bad sinners are unwelcome in my church.

Yes, some affirming churches welcome some to come and stay like they are.  Some churches welcome them to take leadership and pastoral roles. I am not seeking to address that, here.

What about me?  How is the Lord Jesus speaking to you and me through His Spirit?

In Romans 2, Paul carefully cautioned us against judging others without prayerful  self-examination.

" 1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed." (Romans 2:1-5 ESV)

The judgment of God falls on those who "practice such things," or who pass judgment on others without a full parcel of genuine humility-focused self-examination through the Holy Spirit.  The consistent message of the Bible is that none of us should ever "stay the same," as we are being transformed, or changed daily, through the renewing of our minds.  Romans 12:1-2

I want to be open and affirming in this way:  To every person, whatever their lifestyle, inmate, really bad sinner, starting with me, what would Jesus Himself say?

 I want  to say, "Come and join in with us.  We welcome you openly.  We are all repenting of our sins and seeking to follow Jesus.  As you are growing in life-changing transformation, I openly welcome and invite you to come and walk with us.  Come with us and we can follow Jesus, together!"

I am very certain this blog post will draw some comments and reactions.  How is the Lord speaking to you about really bad people?

Obsessed with following Jesus

My home church, Faith Baptist on the east hill of Kent is studying Francis Chan's "Crazy Love." He wrote in the 8th chapter that followers of Jesus who obsessed with Him:

RJC in Kent

... give freely and openly, without censure. 

...love those who hate them and who can never love them back” (p. 132).

...aren’t consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else.  

...care more about God’s kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress” (p. 133).

...live lives that connect them with the poor in some way or another.  

...believe that Jesus talked about money and the poor so often because it was really important to Him” (p. 135).

...more concerned with obeying God than doing what is expected or fulfilling the status quo.  

 

...will do things that don’t always make sense in terms of success or wealth on this earth” (p. 136-137).

...the sin of pride is always a battle.  

...can never be ‘humble enough,’ and so they seek to make themselves less known and Christ more known” (p. 138).

...do not consider service a burden. 

...take joy in loving God by loving His people” (p. 139).

...are known as givers, not takers.  Obsessed people genuinely think that others matter as much as they do, and they are particularly aware of those who are poor around the world” (p. 140-141).

...thinks about heaven frequently.  

...orient their lives around eternity; they are not fixed only on what is here in front of them” (p. 142).

...is characterized by committed, settled, passionate love for God, above and before every other thing and every other being” (p. 143).

...are raw with God; they do not attempt to mask the ugliness of their sins or their failures.  Obsessed people don’t put it on for God; He is their safe place, where they can be at peace” (p. 144).

...have an intimate relationship with Him.  They are nourished by God’s Word throughout the day because they know that forty minutes on Sunday is not enough to sustain them for a whole week, especially when they will encounter so many distractions and alternative missions” (p. 145).

...is more concerned with his or her character than comfort.  

...true joy doesn’t depend on circumstances of environment; it is a gift that must be chosen and cultivated, a gift that ultimately comes from God” (p. 146).

...the best thing he can do is be faithful to his Savior in every aspect of his life, continually saying, ‘Thank You!’ to God.  

...there can never be intimacy if he is always tyring to pay God back or work hard enough to be worthy.  He revels in his role as child and friend of God” (p. 147-148).

From a crossword puzzle to stand before the Cross

Last week, Josh asked me if we could send him a crossword puzzle.  I told him to send a request and then asked if he would like to sit down a talk some with me.  He agreed as he was open.

Regional Justice Center

Josh, 21, said he was a heavy drug user, believed in a higher power, and is a Christian.

I asked him to share with me what he thought being a Christian means, as I often do when guys tell me that.  Some do know the Scriptures and their answers are right-on.  Josh said he keeps the 10 commandments and tries to live a good life toward other people...and treats others like he wants to be treated.  Hmmmm

But, you are in jail, Josh...I said.  What is going on?  I asked again if that is what he thinks being a Christian is and if I could share some verses with him.  He agreed.

He went out and got a New International Version Bible and he came right back. We went through the 10 Commandments, one by one, through Exodus 20. We agreed neither he nor I are able on our own to keep them.  He does honor his parents so I asked if he respected his parents relating to his drug use.  No.  So, 0 for 10.

I walked with him through the Romans Road that I use--1:16, 3:10-12, 3: 21-24, 4:4-5, 6:23, 5:6-8, 10:11-13, and 1 John 5:11-12.


His eyes got bigger and he was crying in the middle.  He said, "I don't know any of this. This is just amazing."

 I went on into John, the disciple Jesus loved--John 3:16, and he had never heard that;  4:13-15, about living water and asking for it, and 5:24, passing out of death into life; Luke 24:46-48, Acts 2:37-38 and 26:20, about repentance; and Revelation 22:17, the Spirit and the bride (that's me) invite him to COME.

Can all this be for me, he asked.  Yes, it can be, and I believe it is, right now, Josh!

I shared with him how to seek God, to call upon Jesus for salvation.  We take the power of God for salvation, we rest on His righteousness for all and on all--Josh--to believe for eternal life.  He started praying with me as I shared a simple model.  I didn't ask him.  He started doing it. He was in tears.

The next day I brought Ray Pritchard's great little book, "An anchor for tje soul."  I'll follow-up, this week.

Inviting men to Standing Stones

Dave and Gail Garton relaxing on te SSM grounds

I enjoy sharing with men about the Standing Stones Ministry of PFC which is in Wapato, Washington especially after spending several days there with the program participants and Dave Garton, the program manager and his wife Gail, last year.  

Just today, during a one-to-one sharing time in one of the units at the RJC, I learned Alex is very interested and praying about Standing Stones. Alex is 26 and sent in an initial letter with information required for consideration.


He received a response from the Standing Stones team and is awaiting the next step while he is in process with the courts at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.

Greg Von Tobel and Bob Jordan at SSM

The Standing Stones Ministry (SSM) provides a healthy environment for individuals struggling with drug and alcohol dependencies to deal with issues that have drastically attempted to knock the slats from right underneath them.  This is a regeneration ministry focused on:

• Bible-based teaching
• classroom instruction
• job work ethics programming
• family reconciliation

 For information about applying directly to the program, individuals may contact:

SSM, P.O. Box 1530, Woodinville, WA  98072

Standing Stones Ministry is located in Wapato

SSM is located in Wapato, in the foothills of the Cascade mountains of eastern Washington on a 40-acre fruit orchard ranch site. 

Program participants in the drug and alcohol component stay for ten months for successful graduation. 

The participant may then be invited to complete a Phase II, a six month leadership training school. 

There is a Phase III 12-month staff training or missionary training school, also by invitation.

While candidates do not need to be Christians to enter SSM, it will be understood the Bible is the sole source for instruction and practical daily application. 

The financial obligation for the Phase I  drug and alcohol ten month program is $4,000. Further details about raising this amount and for indigent candidates could worked out with SSM staff.

Those eligible for the program are men who are 25 years-old or older suffering with life-threatening drug and alcohol addictive lifestyles.  Individuals with sex-related crimes and mental health issues will not be approved.

Fishing for souls

During my ministry at the Regional Justice Center in Kent, I rotate through the units looking for men to talk to.  I'll ask the officer to announce something like, "the chaplain is on-deck and available to pray and read the Bible." 

We get some kite requests for visits, prayer, and spiritual direction, some.  Our chaplain office has word searches sudoku puzzles and some solid Christian books available for reading.  We receive very popular books by Dr. James Gills.  I circulate, "Don't waste your life," by John Piper, and "An anchor for the soul," by Ray Pritchard.

Often, the men ask us to do things we are not free to do--contacts friends or family or carry out some legal or jail need.  They want us to contact someone on the outside.  

Should there be a restraining order, we could walk ourselves into a big mess by participating in what the courts have blocked.  Since many defy these orders regardless of the consequences, we can't help them at all.  

We respond, "My supervisor doesn't allow me to do that, but I'd love to share and pray with you." In those cases, that is all they want and once they find out we can't and won't do those things, they walk away.

During these fishing expeditions, we pray and "send out a line." Guys sometimes open up about a prayer need or about their religious journey.  I'll ask them where they are at spiritually and they might say,  "Oh, I am a Christian.  If the Lord gets me out of this mess, I will really believe Him."  

I do not pursue information about their cases with them, at all.  Sometimes, they share a harrowing story about their innocence.    

In other words, they are obviously not sharing the real story with me and minimal contrition--until the Lord miraculously opens their hearts.  They are used to a firestorm of manipulation and con games.  

I'll ask them to look up John 3:16.  Sometimes, they get their faster than I do.  They do have a solid spiritual background and know Him but have been caught in a web of substance abuse and other crimes.  

Other times they have never even heard of that verse and location so they search around the table of contents aimlessly.  It's amazing to me over and over again how much that is true.

I'll probe carefully but deeper and ask the Lord to work mightily as I begin to share verses from the Gospel of John or Romans.  As we continue, the guys may really want to dig in and I can make a full gospel presentation.  That does happen and frequently.

Homelessness among jail inmates

Hearing stories about homeless men is a constant theme as I meet one-to-one with men at the Regional Justice Center in Kent.  Prisoners for Christ Outreach Ministries and other outstanding ministries

What is really going on?

Is the problem overblown in my thinking?



My writing collaborator added this anecdotal reference:

Jim is 52 and was recently released from Monroe.  He had been able to get a temporary spot in a group home in Tacoma.  Though he was from Vancouver (where all his relatives are) the DOC would not send him there because he could find no place to stay.  Release day came and they loaded his three boxes of belongings into a van and drove them - and him - to the Metro bus depot with his check and a bus ticket.  

Metro would not take his boxes aboard.  The struggle was long, but he finally got to Tacoma on Greyhound and walked his way (ferrying his three boxes one by one) to the group home a mile away.

homeless are young, too

Jim has been out for months, but has no worked. Before prison he ran a large Safeway, and is a very bright and capable man, but none of that counts.  To be homeless is to be in a never-ending, desperate struggle daily to find shelter each night.  You are marked.  One step out of line and you go back to prison (failure to report, loitering). 

I did some research, noted my sources, and invite you to read carefully, here:

"The rate of recent homelessness among U.S. jail inmates was found to be very high (15.3%), approximately 7.5 to 11.3 times higher than that found in the general population...

real people under the bridge

"In comparison with other inmates, homeless inmates were not only more likely to be currently incarcerated for a property crime but also more likely to have past criminal justice system involvement for both nonviolent and violent offenses and to have mental health and substance abuse problems and a lack of personal assets.  

"Past studies of individual jails and city jail systems have found higher rates of homelessness than we did, ranging from 7.8% to 20% of persons who were homeless at the time of incarceration and 25% to 33% of persons who had an episode of homelessness in the two months before incarceration."

Jail Incarceration, Homelessness, and Mental Health: A National Study by Greg A. Greenberg, Ph.D. and Robert A. Rosenheck, M.D., Psychiatric Services website, February 2008.

Here is another study: 

• More than 10 percent of those coming in and out of prisons and jail are homeless in the months before their incarceration.  

• For those with mental illness, the rates are even higher-about 20 percent.   

• The rates are also higher for those returning to major urban areas... 

• 49 percent of homeless adults reportedly spent five or more days in a city or county jail

• 18 percent had been incarcerated in a state or federal prison.  

"Prison release was identified as a major contributor to homelessness in a 36-city survey on hunger and homelessness by officials in six cities (Cleveland, Denver, New Orleans, Phoenix, Seattle, and Washington, DC). Reentry policy council website, 2002 study

one meeting in the Gospel of John

My work at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent focuses on winning men to Christ and building faithful ones up to teach others right within the units where they are serving time. Often, we get one chance to meet with an inmate.  So, the Gospel of John is an awesome place to build a solid foundation.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." John 5:24

The RJC holds men and women while they await court proceedings.  They could be held in custody for longer than one year as legal actions develop or are continued. The inmates are sometimes transferred between the downtown Seattle and Kent jail sites.  If their charges allow for less than one year of time to be served, they may be assigned to finish at either jail site.

Bridge illustration

Recently, I met with Jason who was struggling with grief over the passing of his sister and mother.  He was obviously distressed so I just asked him to sit down and talk with me for awhile.  As he shared his family story with me, he calmed down so I asked about his spiritual or church background.  He never went to church nor read a Bible.

He admitted never considering God in his life so I asked if I could share some Scripture with him.  The Lord led me to introduce Jason to Jesus Christ through the gospel of John and to show him how he might have a forever friendship with Him.  We read through John 1:12-13, 3:16, 4:13-15, 5:24, and 14:6.

Jason wanted Jesus forever.  We shared how he could know Jesus forever, we prayed together, and I left him to read John 10, 14, and 15.

I may never know what happened with Jason as he was released the next morning. I had one meeting and he was gone.  What really happened?  I presented the gospel.  Jason responded and is in God's hands forever.

Religious services delayed in Monroe

Killing stalls religious programs at Monroe prison

by JIM BATES, The Seattle Times

Outside Monroe Correctional facility

MONROE, Wash. -  They see it as shining light in a dark place.

Every year, hundreds of volunteers go behind bars at the Monroe Correctional Complex to bring hope and faith to inmates.

Religious programs at the prison have ground to a halt since corrections officer Jayme Biendl was slain at her post on Jan. 29. Byron Scherf, 52, a convicted rapist already serving a life sentence, is the prime suspect.

The killing has focused public attention on a place normally hidden from view -- the prison chapel -- where many inmates make an earnest effort to find God and the good in themselves. Those who volunteer there aren't sure what lies ahead.

Since Biendl's killing, prison officials met twice with dozens of religious volunteers to address their questions and concerns. Volunteers came from around the state, said John Burkholder, pastor for prison ministries at Cascade Community Church in Monroe.

About 70 religious organizations provide services to the Washington State Reformatory, where Biendl was posted and Scherf was housed. It is one of five prisons within the Monroe complex. Religious programs are a critical outlet for inmates, said Joenne McGerr, who oversees religious, volunteer and family programs for the corrections department. It goes beyond the Bible, she said. Religious services help curb prison violence. The chapel volunteers provide good role models. They teach inmates social skills, such as respecting themselves and others.

Volunteers can help inmates address their physical, mental and spiritual needs, Burkholder said. They help ready them for life outside. "There's a lot of wounds and a lot of mental anguish that have to be healed while you're working with this stuff," he said.

The historical records for the reformatory chapel are under lockdown as part of the police investigation. However, McGerr of the corrections departments said it is her understanding that the chapel was built decades ago using community donations.

Religious services are conducted mostly by volunteers. Community groups donate supplies and resources. Many of the costs are borne by the Offender Betterment Fund, which is supported by offenders and their families.

Penny Castro of PFC

The corrections department is required by law to have chaplains in each prison, spokesman Chad Lewis said. Newer laws say the state cannot pay to build chapels, but they can be built with donations. Volunteers generally work in the prison chapels. Along with traditional worship services, they organize Bible studies, church history classes and religious movie showings.

It's tough work, but it's a calling, said Penny Castro, volunteer placement coordinator for Prisoners For Christ Outreach Ministries, based in Woodinville. Volunteers are eager to get back in once the lockdowns are lifted, she said. "We understand that there is spiritual warfare," Castro said.

For many inmates, the chapel is a place to seek change.

Steve Clines has been volunteering at Monroe for about 10 years through Prisoners For Christ. He's seen inmates leave gangs and racist groups as a result.


Still, volunteers understand that some inmates will come to the chapel for the wrong reasons.
It can be a place to get away from the danger and dullness of prison life. Inmates know they can relax there a little, said Randi Knaus, who has been volunteering at the prison for 27 years.
Inmates often try to manipulate religious volunteers, he said.

Volunteers undergo hours of training before they can visit prison, Burkholder said. They learn policies and protocols. Annual refresher courses are mandatory. Violence in the chapel is extremely unusual, Clines said. In his decade visiting Monroe, he's only heard of one scuffle between inmates.

Clines said he knew Scherf, but he and others didn't know the details of his violent past. Volunteers don't ask inmates about their crimes. However, many inmates share their histories as they build personal relationships and work to change their lives, he said. To his knowledge, Scherf never did that.

Volunteers don't know when they'll be back in the prison. The magnitude of what happened is still sinking in. Every aspect of prison operations is under scrutiny, including the chapel. The lockdowns were still in effect as of Monday night, Lewis said. Prison officials meet daily to discuss the return to normal operations.

After the police investigation, the corrections department plans a Critical Incident Review, led by prison administrators from around the state, Lewis said. The National Institute of Corrections also plans an independent review in the coming weeks, at the governor's request.

Then, the corrections department can focus on moving forward.  Volunteers will head back into the prison as soon as they get the word, Burkholder said.

Bring the greatest news ever amidst broken lives

Memorial for Jayme Biendl

With Monroe Corrections Officer Jayme Biendl memorial service over this week, I want to briefly revisit my string of posts about violence in the jails and prisons.  

It was brought to my attention that what I wrote in my most recent blog might be perceived to downplay the impact of her death. Perhaps, my blog posts took a particular side when nerves are still raw from her tragic death.  While I could have come across in that way in my posts, that response would be a far cry from my intentions.  

Talking about broader issues of violence in the jail and prison systems might have be seen as too soon after the completed memorial in Monroe and Everett and the difficult events at the RJC in January in which several officers were injured.  

I stand strongly against evil regardless of status of individuals in our corrections facilities.  I am privileged to work shoulder-to-shoulder with every jail and prison staff worker, administrator, and officer; and am sent by the Lord to reach incarcerated men in the institutions with the love of Jesus.

It does not matter if the uniforms are black, blue, red, orange, white, or striped.

 

I serve daily with Prisoners for Christ Outreach Ministries at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center, the King County Jail in Kent, prisons around the state and in Oregon, and in international missions.   

Our PFC mission is to reach "the least of the least" who are incarcerated in our jails and prisons with the Luke 19:10 message, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost." 

I strongly support Christ's message to all who are oppressed, imprisoned, or captive. That mission is on both sides of the bars, doors, and windows.

Looking closer at violence at jails and prisons

Monroe Corrections Center

I was privileged earlier this week to be available and listen to an officer in one of the units at the RJC about his stress over "the Officer Biendl situation."  I went into a unit to talk with inmates but none came forward. Very naturally, this officer just started to open up.  It's a rare blessing to be available to the staff.

Some inmates and officers alike radically improve their attitudes and behavior when any guest enters the units they are overseeing.

My good friend Gordon is a former inmate in Washington state DOC prisons. We knocked a couple e-mails back and forth about my two most recent blogs as we react to the Jayme Biendl death at the Monroe Corrections Center, in lockdown since the killing.

This is all the more reason to remain faithful to live out and proclaim the greatest good news in the universe--God sent His Son, the unblemished Lamb of God, to save sinners.  This is all the more reason to remain faithful to the stations where the Lord Himself has called us.


A percentage of officers like wearing uniforms so they can exercise power and treat inmates with over-the-line abuse.  The media reports about the inmates who attack officers. 

"The problem, Gordon wrote, " is not just one of noble, dedicated men and women risking their lives with dangerous prisoners...  Nobody documents the slurs, the shoves, the explicit and implicit violence committed by prison guards on their charges.  

"Why does that kind of violence happen?  Because any organization attracts a shadowy group of people who see opportunity.  Prison work attracts a percentage (my addition) of men and women who like to denigrate and punish other grown men.  

"No, they're not all like that.  I know and respect many officers I've met, and I have no wish to hold up one side of the equation to ridicule - but that's the point: there are two sides, and both need attention.  

"The problem is neither "how do we get the cons to behave?" or "how can we support the guards?".    It is simply this: How can we all learn to live with respect, humility, and kindness, convict and guard alike.  

"You know the answer to that, and maybe your expansion of your ministry to include staff is an implicit acknowledgment of it.  I guess Rodney King," Gordon closed, "was right after all: Can't we all just get along?"

No, we can't.  We've proved that.  We live in a sick and sinful world.

What is this all about?  What do we make of the violence in all directions?  Why is it so hard to work through all this?  We live amongst flawed people in a broken world.  We are flawed ourselves.  These acts of violence are evil.  There is no other explanation.  Evil ravages our broken world.  We can go round and round.  

Ongoing ministries toward staff amidst stress

Outside a prison in Pendleton, OR.

In light of the recent killing of Officer Jayme Biendl at the Monroe Corrections Center, how can those of us who serve in jail and prisons impact the sites where we serve for the Kingdom of God?  I am thinking here about support staff, officers, and administrative personnel.

Isolating on one incident in Monroe overlooks a much broader perspective and deeper need.

Keep in mind,  each level of incarceration--city, county, state, and federal-- maintains separate administrative oversight.  Prisoners for Christ Outreach Ministries and other jail and prison ministry groups serve in all levels of incarceration.

 We must not grow discouraged but redouble our heart faithfulness and continue to pray. Occasionally, we are privileged to listen and even pray with staff.  We know our daily presence and consistent, ongoing service has great impact.

Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center

In mid-January, a detention officer at the Kent Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center where I serve was hospitalized after an inmate assaulted him in a common area in the jail's administrative-segregation unit.

The officer suffered very serious injuries and a second officer, who jumped in to help restrain the inmate, was also injured badly enough to be sent to the hospital. Two others received minor injuries while moving the inmate inside the Kent facility.

After this event, I made myself available for prayer and whatever other support the administrative staff might need.  While there was no response at the time, the gesture was important.  Fellow PFC Chaplain Dick Rothlisberger and I shared with a number of officers over the past years.

Here are some statistics dated 2007, US Government Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 31st Edition, US Department of Justice, Washington DC--

Assaults on Corrections Officers

33,000 inmate on staff assaults per year
90 assaults per day, 3.7 per hour

2.7 staff assaults per 100 inmates – county
1.4 staff assaults per 100 inmates – state
0.9 staff assaults per 100 inmates – federal

A Correctional Officer will be seriously assaulted at least twice in a 20 year career.

 

praying for our jail and prison ministries

I appreciate multiple strong reactions to my blog concerning the violent death of a female officer around a chapel service on the Monroe Corrections Center grounds last Saturday night.  The media is all over this.  The governor called for an investigation.

We need to pray.

I learned the officer-inmate ratio standard at the Regional Justice Center is 1:64, one officer for every 64 inmates.  That means most of the units at the RJC are staffed by one officer.  Hallway ratio is 1:10, one officer for every 10 inmates as they are moved throughout the building.

We need to pray.  We need to continue to persevere joyfully.  We need to pray. We need to obey the rules in our facilities.  We need to be aware. We need to pray.

Just today, a news media site reported that for the first time since corrections officer Jayme Biendl was killed at her post at the Monroe Correctional Complex, officials today could lay out plans for changes at state prisons.

Corrections Secretary Eldon Vail told state lawmakers Thursday in Olympia that he hoped to announce “a few changes".

“I’m looking at some security improvements, not just at Monroe but statewide,” he said after appearing in front of the House General Government Appropriations Committee.

What perspectives might we gain from these events while we persevere and joyfully serve at the  facilities where the Lord Himself has called us?   Here are my beginning thoughts.  As I publish this, receive feedback, and continue to serve, the Lord will bring more to write about.

First, pray.

We need to pray for Byron S., the alleged killer, and the family of Jayme Biendl, the slain officer.  Oh, we need to pray on!  We need to pray around all the institutions where God has privileged us to serve.  We should be praying for the inmate population--that we might expand our faith to reach more and more for salvation, re-dedication, and comfort and strength for their families. 

We should also be praying for the officers, support staff, and multiple levels of administration as they do their jobs.

When we enter our facilities, the secured perimeter, we need to pray for the men and women we will contact for the Kingdom of God.  We need to pray in areas the Lord lays on your heart I didn't touch on here. Oh, that He would use us mightily! 

Second, obey the rules.

Rules and the spirit of the rules are outlined for our protection.  Since my initial days at the RJC, I felt safe within the units.  Maybe, no, simply a sense of being too safe.  There have been incidents of violence around me, that's part of being in a jail and prison ministry. While officers have always been attentive, they can't see everything.  Officers can't control the small percentage seeking to fight, harm others, or even try to commit suicide. The rules are set out for our protection.

Third, be aware.

Keep on serving where you are.  Know where you are.  We serve in jails and prisons and even transitional support ministries, not our homes, nor our churches.  We are in a very different culture with those being held for court procedures or serving time.  Inmates are in very different situations.  Some will receive Christ and be forever, eternally changed.  Some inmates mat be innocent of what they have been charged.  Some made mistakes, even several times, will change, and never re-offend.  Some will remain incarcerated their entire lives.  Some are dangerous and are not accurately placed for the safety of their surroundings.  Some are mentally imbalanced. 

Monroe officer killing perspective

Monroe Corrections Center

About once a month, I visit John, an inmate at the Monroe Corrections Center, at the Twin Rivers site.  We've been meeting since 2009.  I started sharing with him while he was at the Regional Justice Center.  While at Twin Rivers, he went through the sexual offenders treatment program.  I met with his counselor a couple of times, at John's request, as part of the program.

I just learned about the attack and death of an officer at one of the Monroe facility chapels. These events escalate the multiple concerns at all corrections facilities--city, county, state, and federal.  Our presence as chaplains is vital in these times.

In context, officers are commonly left alone during certain assignments due to budget constraints. Yes, it is a huge safety issue. Yes, it is a state budget and political issue as this is another area where funds were slashed.  One of the choices will be to discontinue chapel services.  There will be other choices to consider, as well. 

Virtually all of the units at the King County Regional Justice Center, where I serve primarily, are staffed with one officer.  Recently, another inmate attacked an officer in a unit at the RJC.  Yes, same issues. 

I have presented sermons at three Monroe chapels.  John attends chapel services regularly on Saturday nights.  There are five different centers for inmates at Monroe.

As a note to the portion of the article below, the chapel is inside the fenced facility.  It does not state which chapel where this event unfolded. The officer would not "lead" any religious  service as part of her duties.  As reported, she was serving as the lone officer or guard when she was attacked on Saturday night.

Here is part of the online KOMO account:


MONROE, Wash. -- An inmate is suspected in the death of a Washington state corrections officer who was found strangled with a microphone cord in the prison chapel, where she led religious programs, authorities say.

Jayme Biendl, 34, who had raised concerns about being the sole guard in the chapel, was found dead Saturday night at Monroe Correctional Complex northeast of Seattle, Department of Corrections spokesman Chad Lewis said.

He said it was the first time a guard has been killed at the 100-year-old facility. Corrections officers and supporters gathered Sunday night at the entrance to the prison for a candlelight vigil in Biendl's memory.

"A very kind person. Hard working, dedicated to her job, her family, her horses," said Sgt. Jim Fletcher, who served as Biendl's supervisor for two years at the prison. "It's not going to be easy not having her around. You wish you could have been there to help out."

Byron Scherf, a 52-year-old inmate, was reported missing during a routine count at 9:14 p.m. Saturday. He was found three minutes later in the chapel lobby and told officers he had planned to escape.

"He is our primary suspect," Monroe police spokeswoman Debbie Willis said. Scherf is serving a life sentence without parole after being convicted of first-degree rape and kidnapping in 1997 under the state's "three-strikes" law, Lewis said.

Prison officials said Scherf had been serving as a volunteer worker in the chapel. Lewis said Biendl was alone at the chapel Saturday night and was not carrying a weapon, as is typical for many corrections officers.

Transformation for Tyrone

Changed lives

For just a little more than a year, I have been ministering to Tyrone at the Regional Justice Center in Kent.  Tyrone is awaiting his court process and has passed through amazing growth.  He was given an ESV Study Bible and just soaks the Scriptures in. 

 It is just awesome to watch how the Lord Himself is transforming Tyrone's life.  After writing his testimony, he turned to Philippians 3, and we read together. 

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 3:12-14 

Here is his own story:

"Hello, my name is Tyrone and in January of 2010 I made the most important and best decision in my life. I came to Christ! Wow! If you knew me, that is what you would also say! It is now January of 2011 and here I still sit at the Kent Regional Justice Center and I'm OK.

The real battles of life

"I can tell you that this past year has been one of the most exciting and growing processes of my entire life. With the spiritual leadership of Prisoners for Christ, namely Chaplains Mark Richardson and Dick Rothlisberger and the numerous other volunteers that came in, I have been able to keep my relationship with Christ strong.

"We are faced with many challenges in this concrete beast and sometimes the difference can be just a simple visit from a spiritual leader. We are truly grateful that the Lord has provided for us this type of resource. 

"Personally, for me, Mark Richardson has been amazing. I can say that through the loving power of Christ, he has been a comfort, leader, and, I feel, a friend. My life is forever changed and I know it. The ministry of PFC has been a huge part of that.


"I don't know what lies ahead but because of the peace I have through the confidence in my relationship with Christ, all I can do is consider it a working process and keep praying. I know I can speak with a great deal of confidence and truth for all the believers in Christ that are incarcerated--we would be lost without an outside ministry. 

Thank you, Prisoners for Christ."

Christmas Goody Bags distributed

The Weidner clan during assembling

As part of my ministry at the Regional Justice Center in Kent, I serve as president of our Chaplaincy Advisory Group which meets the second Monday monthly.  

We support all the 33 ministry groups serving at the RJC under trhe direction of Mary Ann Morbley, the programs director at the RJC.  

For the past several years, the CAG has sponsored a Christian Goody Bag distribution to the 700 inmates and officers. It is amazing how genuinely touched and appreciative the men and women are when we pass out the lunch sack size bags.  

Merv Weidner, one of the chaplains, and his family come in to assemble the bags.  A group of elementary classes from Kentview Christian School color the bags.  The supporting ministries brought in candy, cookies, and crackers and the CAG provided additional items.  One of our board members worked with area grocery stores to provide candy items.

I was privileged to assemble some extra bags and distribute the bags with Chaplains Dick Rothlisberger and Mary Rutter to several of the units.  I have been able to follow-up with inmates for one-on-one Bible studies and visitation.

Real repentance in prison ministries

Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent

 Over December and the Christmas season, I am serving faithfully at the Regional Justice Center in Kent.  I've been back from the short-term missions trip to Rwanda and Burundi in Africa for a little more than a month.

John, an inmate at the RJC, who I shared with earlier this week.  His journey with Jesus began when he was 18.  He's 40-something now and his story is constantly intertwined with drugs and alcohol.  He's in jail now because while he was drunk he struck his two children and frightened his wife.  

He doesn't get it.  I repeated, "You abused your family...that is abuse...that was violence."  He said, "but it wasn't a crime...I pushed them with an open hand.  I shouldn't be in jail...."  

What?

His life does not show fruits of repentance, by his own admission.  His life is without evidence of real change.

He is sober, right now, so he is set on reading the Bible and pursuing Christ.  I told him I just am not sure what happened when he was 18.  He hasn't read his Bible, nor gone to church, nor pursued recovery support groups.  


Without effective recovery support group involvement, the drug, alcohol, or self-medicating addict is setting himself or herself up to fall.  They could remain clean and sober for a season.  They are more likely to fall.  They need a solid, Christian mentor.  John needs a group like Alcoholics Anonymous or Celebrate Recover.  I shared with John he needs a group he will go to regularly.  He needs to engage in his daily and weekly recovery in Christ Jesus.

This is not "works salvation," but the fruit of sanctification through the gracious progressive work of the Holy Spirit.

This real life anecdote is exactly why I am so cautious about leading converts in salvation prayers and altar calls.  Yes, the lord uses these prayers and altar calls.  I am very cautious about giving a seeker or new convert a sense that they might trust in the prayer or walking down the aisle and to think those acts save them or prove their salvation.  

• Where is a contrite and broken heart?  
• Where is the repentance?  What does it look like?
• How will "John" make things really right before God and his family?

I have John reading and studying through a worksheet I developed on living faith in keeping with repentance.  I'll go back in later this week to see where he is at.

I just read an a real life story from missionary John Paton about genuine conversions and changed lives in a missionary setting and what we can observe.

"When I have read or heard the shallow objections of irreligious scribblers and talkers, hinting that there was no reality in conversions, and that Mission effort was but waste...

oh, how my heart has yearned to plant them just one week in Tanna, with the "natural" man all around in the person of Cannibal and Heathen...

and only the one "spiritual" man in the person of the converted Abraham [Paton's Aneityumese friend who worked tirelessly for the kingdom of God], nursing them, feeding them, saving them "for the love of Jesus"--that I might just learn how many hours it took to convince them that Christ in man was a reality after all! 

All the skepticism of Europe would hide its head in foolish shame; and all its doubts would dissolve under one glance of the new light that Jesus, and Jesus alone, pours from the converted Cannibal's eye."

Dave Niehaus--we saw it on the radio

Katharine is involved in ministries to the sight-impaired and recently shared with me a letter from Marlaina Lieberg, from the Washington Council for the Blind, who spoke at the Seattle Mariners Dave Niehaus Memorial at Safeco Field.  

Here is an excerpt from Marlaina's reflections:

"I was seated in the second row just behind Rick (Rizz--Dave's radio and tv M's partner for years). He is a very tiny man as men go.

He is a very nice guy, and we were all moved and felt helpless when we saw him fall apart emotionally. When Edgar, Jay, Dan Wilson and Kevin Kremmons went up to surround him, you could feel everybody just letting go.

Marlaina speaking

The stage had four steps to walk up and the podium was a few feet away from those steps.  Originally John Olerud was going to escort me, but he ended up sitting in the wrong seat so a guy from the Marketing Department escorted me instead.

It was very weird at first to speak and hear my word a fraction of a second later!

I was using my BrailleNote Apex, and the one time I deviated from my notes, I nearly got lost because my hand was so cold it was almost numb.  They gave me hand warmers, but those only work if you keep your hands in your pocket!  Oops!


While I was speaking, I really felt aware of the fact that I was representing all fans, but especially we who are visually impaired.

I wanted to make the point that because of Dave, you didn't need to see the game.  When people applauded, I almost fainted!  It was very awesome to hear the sound coming from left, center and right of me.  

But what was more awesome was the fact that over 5 thousand sighted people clapped when they understood you didn't need sight!  I never thought that would happen in this lifetime.

Edgar Martinez and his family sat behind Gary and me.  After the ceremony was over, we shook hands.  Let me tell you, that man has the most muscular hands I've ever felt.  They aren't fat, but oh boy are they muscular!"