I get sad when I don't think people are reading my posts. I really want you to take a couple minutes, watch the video from the last post.
Saturday I spent the day volunteering with Forgiven Ministry. We put on what they call a "One Day With God" camp (ODWG). OWDG is a special event for incarcerated fathers and their children to spend a day long visit together. Here is an article from the Muskegon Chronicle that summarizes the day (photos, too). After you read the article (oh I hope you do), read my thoughts on my experience.
I didn't actually go to the prison. My assignment was to stay at the church and help put on the program for the caregivers. I was faced with a different reality that day. Their reality. The reality of raising children without a father, and having prison be a part of their everyday life. Gosh, I just don't how to communicate to you what I saw. Who I saw. But I really want you to know. I met Ti, a mother of 2 teenagers. Their father has been incarcerated for 12 years. She's done so well. Her words as she cries, "We've never been hungry, never been homeless". Ti said the reason she brought her kids to the ODWG camp was to show them that they weren't the only ones dealing with this kind of life. It is unimaginable to me. Saturday I caught just the tiniest glimpse of the unimaginable. But today I'm relaxing on the couch at home, blogging with a sleeping cat on either side of me, all while my husband is soundly, safely, freely asleep upstairs. Saturday I spent the majority of the day in room surrounded by women whose lives have been broken, torn apart. Women who have to make a way for themselves and their children all while their husbands, boyfriends are, perhaps not so soundly, asleep behind the bars of Earnest Brooks Correctional Facility...for 2 more months, for 15 years, for life.
I am amazed that ODWG camps exist. You want to bring children onto prison grounds and let them physically interact with their inmate fathers all day? Great, no problem. Are you kidding me? But it's real. Forgiven Ministry has been in over 30 prisons in the US this year. The hope is that it will plant forgiveness, blossom healing and break the cycle of crime.
I expect my thoughts will linger on this topic for a bit. I'll keep you updated. Thanks for reading, Rachel
It was truly amazing. I was at the prison. My station was as a floater, helping out where needed. Oddly, God blessed that day so much we had too many volunteers. But that's God's crazy way. I pretty much didn't do anything but watch and pray. The healing and restoration I experienced was astounding. God cares that much to make all the arrangements for the inmates and their children. Two days later I'm still stunned at the hand of God. I felt all my own hurts melt away and heart healed. I can't imagine a day where I don't get to come home to see my son, hear his voice, his laugh, interact with him, hug him, and tell him I love him. Some of these men will only have this One Day that they got to hug their kids and tell them they love are loved. It was huge. I came home thinking, Wow, God, and you wanted me to bear witness to that? What did I do that you love me so much?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rachel, for sharing your thoughts and feelings during the One Day With God Camp. I am truly blessed that you are my friend and sister in the Kingdom. I can't wait to see what God has for us next. :)
Dee