We had an incredible opportunity to work in state prisons in Michigan. It is very difficult to get authorization to work with the department of corrections in the US because of high security protocols and bureaucracy. So we were very grateful for this opportunity and that by the grace and power of God we were invited in.
The man in charge who organized everything was awesome and extremely competent. He actually had gone to CMU, the same university as my dad. We performed for level 4, level 2, and level one guys, many who were serving a life sentence. They were able to bring together a large group of inmates and we had practiced our schedule many times so our transitions and acts were really sharp and on point. It was so cool to perform in a prison in English and have no language barrier.
The men were eager to laugh and just blown away by our magic tricks. We taught so much about forgiveness, eternal life, using their time and the profound love of Jesus. The were so grateful and moved. Afterwards the guards gave us an extra 20 min to talk one on one with the guys and they all wanted to tell us their stories. Most of them had very long sentences. We heard a good quote in a movie one time that said, “You only have to forgive once, but to regret you have to do it over and over again every day”. So many of these guys just live regretting what they did or full of vengeance at someone for what they did. To forgive is the only way to move on and begin to build a future, even behind walls.
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