This evening we spent some time laughing and expressing joy. The offenders say that they haven’t had that kind of joy for years.

At dinner, one offender commented that he “won’t be able to enjoy shrimp for another 20 years.”

This morning, as the guys arrived, we were greeting them and one participants said that he “hadn’t been greeted this much in years.”

We’re seeing some changes in the offenders that are participating in the weekend. They’re opening up more and the conversations are very lively.

The talks that the team have done have been right on target. The team members have set the example for sharing through their openness in their talks. There have been many stories centering on forgiveness and tomorrow we’ll do a special exercise on forgiveness.

We can’t say enough good things about the staff at Wabash. Even the superintendent has been encouraging his friends to pray for this weekend.

I’m sorry that I don’t share more details, but it’s late and we’re starting the day early again tomorrow. I’ll be going out with a team to distribute cookies to the general population.

More tomorrow.

Day 1 of Wabash Kairos went well. The team prayed at the bluffs that overlook the Wabash River at Merom and then proceeded to the prison.

The list of participants went through a couple of changes at the last minute, but we wound up with a full group of 42.

During the first evening, we take time for introductions and a couple of short meditations. The inmate participants were really open during the introductions and we can tell already that this will be a great weekend.

More tomorrow.

Johnny

50,000 COOKIES NEEDED FOR WABASH KAIROS!

Home baked chocolate chip cookies buy a lot of good will during the weekend. Every inmate and every staff person at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility will be given home baked cookies.

For the official recipe, click the read more link below.

When I accepted the challenge to be team leader for Wabash Kairos #1 I had never been inside the facility. All that I had seen were the signs warning us not to pick up hitch hikers and what is visable from the highway.

Now that i've been able to visit the facility a couple of times I can tell you that there is a real sense of responsibility taking over my spirit.

Walking into wabash is different than entering Branchville. At Branchville I sensed that we were stepping onto holhy ground, but at Wabash it feels more like stepping onto a battleground.