It all got started with music!

Music. That’s how it all began! 

I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting. I’m sure it’s a combination of old age, the recent 23rd birthday of HFP, and the production of a new documentary detailing the Maurice Carter/Doug Tjapkes story. I keep trying to answer the question: How did I get here? With a major in broadcast journalism, and a minor in church music (none of it the result of formal education), here I am working with prisoners. And loving it! And believing with all my heart that this is my calling! 

Well, let’s go back to my first prison experience. 

The year was 1968, the shameful Vietnam War was in full swing, and I was in that war-torn country on behalf of World Vision International, accompanying two wonderful singers…old family friends. It’s hot in Vietnam, unless you are up in the mountains. It was a chilly, rainy Sunday morning in the Central Highlands when World Vision rep Jim Franks led us to a prison. It was a small facility where captured enemy soldiers, members of the dreaded Viet Cong, were incarcerated. Ernie Hansen, Gary Bomgaars and Doug Tjapkes delivered a musical message of hope and redemption. We later learned that a number of those prisoners made life-changing decisions following that service. 

Years later, I had formed a new musical group---a small male chorus aptly called HIS MEN. The year was 1975 and we were on a singing mission in Puerto Rico. Before we flew home, our host, Pastor Ron Smeenge, had arranged a prison gig. We would sing in the infamous San Juan Penitentiary. As we returned to our cars following our musical presentation, we could hear the men behind bars still singing favorite hymns. 

That led to a new ministry for HIS MEN. For 47 years the group made singing in jails and prisons a top priority. 

So, I guess it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that, after 29 years in the broadcasting industry, and another 21 years in church organ sales, I chose to dabble in the work of helping a prisoner. That led to helping more prisoners. That led to the formation of INNOCENT, now known as HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS. 

I marvel at how many years it took for me to realize that this is where I belong. In hindsight I can see how my first two careers were merely preparation for this one. 

In the past 23 years, the HFP team has made a huge impact helping Michigan prisoners with their daily needs and problems, and doing their best to convince these men and women that “they matter.”  

I can only give praise and thanksgiving to the God who chose this crooked stick to start it all…a work that had its roots in music! 

Without music, life would be a mistake

Friedrich Nietzsche



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