Yesterday there was a "revival" service in the prison's chapel which lasted from 12:45 to 8 p.m...
I had to stay an additional hour, however, after our guests and the rest of the inmates left in order to help the chapel's workers put away the chairs, tables and music equipment. We also had to clean the building too. Then, when I got back to my cell shortly after nine o'clock, I got my soap and shampoo and headed for a hot shower. By ten o'clock, I was fast asleep.
One dozen Christians came to the facility to conduct this event. These men and women were all Hispanic. But there were inmate translators available for the men like myself, who don't know Spanish.
In addition, prison officials allowed the inmates and our visitors to eat together inside the chapel itself, which is something that's seldom permitted. The guests also had to eat the basic prison food which, for yesterday's supper, consisted of preprocessed meatball stew over noodles. The stew, by the way, is a product of the New York State Department of Correctional Service's "quick-chill" food program. It's prepared in advance at a different facility, then quickly frozen, and shipped to our prison's kitchen where it gets defrosted and reheated when needed.
I helped to serve the food, which I like to do. But the fun came when I got to watch the expressions on the faces of our visitors when they each took their first taste of prison food.
Yet the best part of the service was the singing and worship, along with the various sermons given by each preacher. Together, everything made for a long but spiritually uplifting day.
D.B.
One dozen Christians came to the facility to conduct this event. These men and women were all Hispanic. But there were inmate translators available for the men like myself, who don't know Spanish.
In addition, prison officials allowed the inmates and our visitors to eat together inside the chapel itself, which is something that's seldom permitted. The guests also had to eat the basic prison food which, for yesterday's supper, consisted of preprocessed meatball stew over noodles. The stew, by the way, is a product of the New York State Department of Correctional Service's "quick-chill" food program. It's prepared in advance at a different facility, then quickly frozen, and shipped to our prison's kitchen where it gets defrosted and reheated when needed.
I helped to serve the food, which I like to do. But the fun came when I got to watch the expressions on the faces of our visitors when they each took their first taste of prison food.
Yet the best part of the service was the singing and worship, along with the various sermons given by each preacher. Together, everything made for a long but spiritually uplifting day.
D.B.
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