Yesterday we had fifteen inmates volunteer to set up everything we needed for today's event...
They also had to pound steel stakes into the hard earth with sledgehammers in order to erect four large tents, under which will sit approximately 150 people. In addition, stacks of metal folding chairs and lots of tables had to be brought out of storage and then set in organized rows. It was an operation which took about five hours under the watchful eye of a blazing sun.
Today was our annual Christian Family Banquet. It began around 8:30 in the morning, and it ended at 2:30 in the afternoon. I was able to mingle with many of our guests and meet the families of some of my fellow prisoners. My friend Dan, who visited from New Jersey, helped me and a dozen or so inmates serve the food. Then, about an hour after lunch was finished, it was time to serve the ice cream. So, me and another inmate dished out the ice cream into bowls. We served the kids first, scooping fresh ice cream from four large tubs. I enjoyed seeing lots of smiling faces.
Later, after the event was over and our guests left, it was time for all the prisoners, including myself, to line up for the standard and always degrading "strip-search." Then, when this was completed, I and about fourteen other men who were a part of the set-up and clean-up crew set out to take the tents down and drag these heavy things back to the storage area along with all the chairs and tables. It was exhausting work. And the trash had to be picked up and carted off, too.
The only disappointing note, however, was that the 25 members of the Manhattan Grace Tabernacle Church's choir from New York City were not able to make it; they had to cancel at the last minute. So they were missed. But we had our own choir present. They're a group of talented men who call themselves "The Voices of the Prodigal Sons," and they led in the praise and worship.
Altogether it was a joyous day as a big crowd gathered in the outdoor recreation yard under a clear blue sky. It was a day well spent.
D.B.
Today was our annual Christian Family Banquet. It began around 8:30 in the morning, and it ended at 2:30 in the afternoon. I was able to mingle with many of our guests and meet the families of some of my fellow prisoners. My friend Dan, who visited from New Jersey, helped me and a dozen or so inmates serve the food. Then, about an hour after lunch was finished, it was time to serve the ice cream. So, me and another inmate dished out the ice cream into bowls. We served the kids first, scooping fresh ice cream from four large tubs. I enjoyed seeing lots of smiling faces.
Later, after the event was over and our guests left, it was time for all the prisoners, including myself, to line up for the standard and always degrading "strip-search." Then, when this was completed, I and about fourteen other men who were a part of the set-up and clean-up crew set out to take the tents down and drag these heavy things back to the storage area along with all the chairs and tables. It was exhausting work. And the trash had to be picked up and carted off, too.
The only disappointing note, however, was that the 25 members of the Manhattan Grace Tabernacle Church's choir from New York City were not able to make it; they had to cancel at the last minute. So they were missed. But we had our own choir present. They're a group of talented men who call themselves "The Voices of the Prodigal Sons," and they led in the praise and worship.
Altogether it was a joyous day as a big crowd gathered in the outdoor recreation yard under a clear blue sky. It was a day well spent.
D.B.
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