...as part of the Bill Glass Champions for Life prison ministry program. I am extremely excited! I feel that I'm an insignificant part of God's plan but I have the chance to make an impact with this program.

We're going to the Harris County jail. I'll let you know how it goes.

http://www.billglasscfl.org/

RodeoSchro said:

DON'T PICK UP THE SOAP

Good luck mate hope it all goes well

mdiver said:

LMAO, good advice! Thanks!

RodeoSchro said:

remember, just tattoo the blueprints of the prison all over your torso and you'll be fine...

jamieranoutofposts said:

Hmmm, I don't have any tatoos. I guess if I'm ever going to get one, you can't more real than a prison tat.

RodeoSchro said:

good luck by the way, sounds interesting

You sound like a good man, pat yourself on the back!

PaisleyPark5083 said:

Thanks. I hope I help some inmates but the truth is, I'm doing this for my benefit as much as for theirs.

RodeoSchro said:

A good man indeed...and a Prince fan!! package deal

Done. It was great.

I went to the Harris County Jail. It was pretty intimidating the first time I heard that door slam behind me.

Jail smells. No surprise, huh? This jail is 7 stories high. I was on floor 7, which they said was where the worst offenders were. Still, this is a county jail and not a prison, so there weren't men there doing life sentences.

Fact is, there weren't many men there at all. There were a lot of boys, though. The average age was around 22, but I met lots of teenagers.

I talked to them about being saved. A lot of the guys claimed to be Christians. Some said they were already saved. Most thought they were going to Heaven when they died, but some weren't sure. No one told me they thought they were going to Hell.

Isn't that interesting? I'm talking to guys that for the most part have been in jail more than once. But none of them thought they were going to Hell. I didn't ask them what they were in jail for - that's a no-no and you wouldn't do it anyway because you can tell it's not respectful.

Most guys that admitted what they were in for were there because of drugs. I might have been talking to murderers awaiting trial, who knows? No one scared me. A few guys tried to give me the business but I just ignored them. I could have easily whipped them on the outside, though.

I only had one guy tell me he was innocent of the charge that put him in jail. Another guy said he was innocent too, but agreed with his buddy that he might have been innocent this time, but was guilty many other times before. He held no grudge.

What most of these guys really wanted was to learn how to quit making the same mistakes that kept landing them back in jail. They knew right from wrong but they didn't know how to avoid wrong. I advised them to remember the two rules Jesus said were the most important: (1) Live your life to glorify God; and (2) The Golden Rule.

Easier said than done, we all agreed that. These guys find that as soon as they start doing something good, other people try to bring them down. I told them people did that because they were jealous and if they were jealous, that meant you were doing something right. So keep doing it and don't fall victim to someone else's jealousy.

I had lunch with the guys yesterday. Everything you've heard about jail food is true. I'm not even sure what it was. They called it a "burritto" but who knows? It was hot, the filling was dark, and I did see a few beans in there. But man, it was bad. Interestingly, some guys that were in other units told me they had a great lunch yesterday. Chicken fried steak, rice and a Moon Pie. Huh - my dessert was two pieces of white bread.

We had "platform speakers" come to the pods (which are like dormitories except there are no walls and you have to whizz in front of everyone). These are people like Mike McCoy, former NFL All Pro; Jack "Murph the Surf" Murphy, internationally-known jewel thief; and Greg Phillps, a comedian. They give a short program, then turn the room over to regular guys like me.

I helped 16 men come to Jesus. Whether they get saved or not is up to them and Jesus. I enjoyed meeting them. I think they were good guys who just didn't know how to make good decisions. Hopefully that has changed.

I will probably do this again.

Being hispanic this hurt my heart. I heard on the radio the other day, that there are 3 times more hispanic men in jail, then in college!! That is just a shame, I believe it, but it is just painful to hear. I thank god that my son, was able to not fall through the cracks!!
Good job Rodeo!!!

What a great experience. Thanks for sharing with us. I love hearing about stuff like this.

You do important work. Wow.

I see inmates everyday. I have to gain their trust which is hard because I work for the "Public Pretender" as they say. I usually succeed though. It's all about compassion.