When the real reason for singing in prison finally appears

I was back behind bars…right where I like to be!

Thanks to the wonderful cooperation of the warden and program coordinator at Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon, HFP was able to arrange a gospel concert for inmates featuring our musical group SWEET FREEDOM. 

The moment inmates began filing into the gymnasium, where we to perform, I knew why God had sent me there last night.

-I was surrounded by guys who were incensed that the Michigan Department of Corrections had illegally removed my name from their email capabilities, but had ALSO removed all of their prior email correspondence with me, including critical legal documents.

-An inmate who has been unfairly treated by the Michigan Parole Board asked if we could intervene on his behalf.  The board has demanded that he take a sex offender course before he can be released.  BUT, because he claims he was wrongly convicted, the prison won’t let him take the sex offender course.

-An inmate who spent almost all of his life in a mental institution was finally released, and for the next 20 years this mentally ill man spent time in prison…a place where he obviously should not be.  He stumblingly asked if we could help.

-Inmates proudly reported they had made some items in hobby-craft for HFP so we could sell them as fund-raisers.

Yep, God knew what he was doing all right…putting me right there among these guys who needed our love and compassion.

Then something even more touching…

Our group of fine musicians had done what we do best---presenting fine old gospel tunes in a fresh and delightful way that pleased many inmates.

As we received hand-shakes and accolades after the service, a young man shyly approached me with tears streaming down his cheeks.  I had been hurrying through these thank you gestures, but it was obvious that I shouldn’t rush this one.  The lad grabbed my hand and wouldn’t let go.  “You helped bring me back,” he said.  I started to thank him, just as I had the others, and he kept my hand. “No, I mean it,” he said.  “I have had some serious struggles with my faith.  I have it for a while, and then I lose it.  It has been coming and going.  Tonight, you helped to bring me back.”

Then I got the message.  This was the real reason for our presence behind bars.  Doug and HFP were not at work…God was doing his thing.  He just used us to help make stuff happen.  And it did!  I don’t even know this young man’s name, but he’s in my prayers.  Keep him in yours, too.


SOLI DEO GLORIA!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Half-a-race!

The HFP Drag-Racing Fund-Raiser had the potential of being extremely successful, and could have raised several thousand dollars. Let's just say it was partly successful. For background purposes I'll explain that I was racing a 1963 supercharged Studebaker Lark that has a reputation of being one of the fastest stock Studebakers in drag racing today. The engine was built by one of the finest Studebaker engine mechanics in the country, and the car many times has achieved quarter-mile runs in less than 14 seconds! We promised to make at least ten passes in the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drags at Mid-Michigan Motorplex in Stanton, Michigan, this past weekend, and we asked for pledges ONLY ON THOSE RUNS REACHED IN LESS THAN 14 SECONDS. On Friday, here's how we fared: Run #1 13.936 @ 101.24 mph Run #2 14.027 @ 101.30 mph Run #3 14.091 @ 100.88 mph Run #4 13.805 @ 102.84 mph Run #5 14.058 @ 101.26 mph By the 5th run we discovered that
Read more

Gregory John McCormick: 1964-2008

Itchy is dead. The lifeless body of this talented rock musician, whose band Shock Therapy was a popular group especially in Europe, was found in a field in Detroit last Wednesday, November 5. The Wayne County Coroner's office informed father Glenn McCormick that the body of his son Gregory, better known to all of us as Itchy, bore no signs of trauma. Glenn said that Itchy, who had been living at his father's dental lab in Detroit, had been drinking to excess for some time. While the toxicology report has not been released yet, the general consensus seems to be that he drank himself to death. Our agency, while still named INNOCENT, first got involved with Itchy in 2005. The Detroit native, who called Germany his home, got involved in some unfortunate activity that placed him in the Michigan State prison system on a charge of arson of a dwelling. It was really just a bonfire in an alley, but an alleged parole violation placed him in prison for 1-20 years. I personally sat w
Read more

Three lives, connected by a divine thread

My kids say it should be a book! The Doug, Pat and Mark story is a doozie!   About 25 years ago, while fighting to free Maurice Carter from prison, I read a newspaper column written by Pat Shellenbarger of the Grand Rapids Press on the topic of eyewitness identification. I contacted Pat re that story. That led to a friendship between Doug and Pat that continues to this day.   In subsequent months, Pat would go on to assist me in an investigation into the Maurice Carter case that eventually led to solving the crime.  That particular episode became a chapter in my book about the Carter case, SWEET FREEDOM, published in 2006.   Fast forward to 2009, A New York businessman claims wrongful conviction, and while serving time in a Michigan prison is handed a copy of my book. Mark Hartman, who was also convicted in Berrien County, was amazed at the similarity of these two stories and tried to reach out to me. His letters bounced.   Persisting in his efforts to contact the author, Mark
Read more