From a Kairos Blog... This past Sunday afternoon was the end of another 4 day Kairos weekend and, as usual, it was filled with Gods love, grace, mercy and forgiveness. First, I would like to thank each and every one of you for either buying meal tickets or praying for the team and participants. The weekends rely on the prayers of the faithful and every person at DCI (Desoto Correctional Institute) felt them and was affected by them. We have an awesome God and He was present in the chapel and the talk room at the prison and also at the Methodist Church the team stayed at each evening. Here are some of the highlights of the weekend.... There were 36 inmates who participated in Kairos #61. Of those 36, a high number of them (1/3 - 1/2?) had already given their lives to Christ prior to attending Kairos. You could tell because the men were receptive to what we were sharing much quicker than usual. The participants had an opportunity to pray aloud in front of their table family, and most of them did, many for the first time! 2 of the 6 participants at my table shared they want to become clergy so they can minister to others! There were at least 3 genuine salvation; confirmed by public testimony! There were many talks (like Choices, You are not Alone, Friendship with God, Opening the Door, The Church, etc) by team members on the weekend. The transparency by the team members who gave the talks was quite powerful. They bared their souls and shared the struggles they have had. On Sunday, one of the participants at my table said Im glad Im in here. You guys are going through Hell out there! The participants were each given a bag of letters that had been hand written by each team member. There were over 50 letters in each bag and the men shared they were mightily touched by God through them. The testimony of 2 men stood out. In 3 years 1 man had only received 1 letter and the other had never received any letters and now they have dozens and dozens of letters! They held onto those bags with a death grip!!! There were several meditations in the chapel on the weekend on topics like Forgiveness The Wall, Acceptance of Self, Accepting Gods Forgiveness, and The Rooster Story. The Rooster Story is about carrying a burden, then asking forgiveness for it or forgiving someone, and continuing to carry it and asking forgiveness over and over again. Early on Saturday, the participants were given a piece of special paper to start making a list of people and things they wanted to forgive or be forgiven for. At the end of the day, there was a forgiveness ceremony. Each man, team members included, went to the front of the room and placed his list in a bowl filled with water and watched it dissolve. Then he had his hands washed and dried by 2 of our clergy team members and was prayed over by each of them. It was a very powerful visual and physical act. One of the men at my table said he understood what we were doing, but it didnt help him in the least, no disrespect. On Sunday, after The Rooster Story, he shared that because of that meditation, he now understood and was able to forgive and be forgiven!!! On Saturday evening we had Open Mic. Each participant was given the opportunity to say what the weekend meant to them so far. Lots of men shared and it was very powerful. Everyone felt Gods presence there and many said they were moved too much to really put into words. On Sunday each participant was presented with a wooden cross necklace. Before they were presented, the DCI chaplain gave a very powerful talk on the significance of wearing a cross. He warned the men that the cross should not be taken and worn unless their lives had changed to reflect that they now belonged to Jesus. If the men were unwilling to work at giving up the sin in their lives, they should not wear the cross. The chaplain said that if they did, and they did not change their lives to reflect that change, it would be like dragging the name of Jesus through the mud. All 36 men accepted the cross! Finally came the closing. Unknown to the participants, many people from the outside came to be at the closing. There were about 60 men and women and maybe another 80 inmates who have previously been through a Kairos. The men were again given the opportunity to share what the weekend meant. Their shared the same kinds of things we hear at every closing; they arrived on Thursday with very little or no faith, they received love, joy, respect and forgiveness and although they didnt actually name them all, they were leaving with all of the fruits of the spirit that they planned to share with others. Each night after we left the prison, we went back to the church for a team meeting. Saturday night, the 6 team members who were on their first Kairos, shared what they thought so far about the ministry and like the participants, every one of them was touched more than they could put into words and were almost too overcome to even put anything into words. Every person who signed up to pray had their first name and city where they live written on a piece of paper and attached to a wooden clock in the talk room. Everyone was able to see who was praying for them at any given time of the day or night. The clock was totally filled with the names of people praying and it started early Thursday and continued 24 hrs. per day until Sunday evening. On Sunday afternoon, the slips of paper were divided up among the participants and they were able to take them back to their dorms. The men shared that they were going to pray for all those people who prayed for them and bought the meal tickets for them. They saved all the meal tickets and we have heard that previous Kairos participants still pray daily for the people who bought them meals and prayed for them. Thats powerful stuff!! You are all important parts of this ministry and we couldnt continue without your help! Please keep praying for these men. Jesus loves you and so do I!
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 15:58:48 +0000
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