Last night, our family had a unique experience. We had the privilege of playing for a juvenile detention center a couple hours from our home. This performance opportunity came through an organization called Prisoners for Christ.
We became involved with this organization after meeting one of its volunteers last year. The volunteer found out that we have a family bluegrass band and asked if we would be interested in playing some concerts for detention centers in Washington. We signed up for a couple concerts and last night was the first one.
The drive to the center was long and the weather was pretty awful. We are in the nasty part of the year where everything is DARK, RAINY, COLD and WINDY. These are the days when I question why we live here. And I begin counting down to Dec.22--the day when we are past the shortest day of the year and it can only get better.
Anyway, though it was a long ride, we had a fun time together laughing, teasing and storytelling. The mood was light and joyful until we reached the center. Then the kids became sober when they saw the gates and concertina wire. I felt some concern about what we were about to do. Being a woman and a mom, I have a healthy fear of criminals. And here I was taking my kiddos to where many reside.
The young men we were going to be performing for were around the ages of 17-21. We were going to give a 1 hour concert and were told that we may see 10-20 residents--never over 30. The residents who can come to concerts are those with good behavior and who choose to come. The facility holds about 200. You can imagine our surprise and delight when 42 young men showed up!!
The twist to this performance was that we were told that this is like a chapel service to the young men and that we were supposed to share our faith and Scripture with the young men. Though we sing and play Gospel music and we are followers of Jesus Christ, we don't often share openly about our faith unless asked, or if we are playing for churches and such. So this was going to be a very different performance for us.
My heart pounded hard as the young men filed into their seats. They were quiet and so were we. After our introduction, as soon as I hit the first note of "Suburban Breakdown" all the fear dissipated and we were on stage performing for what felt like new friends.
They seemed a little shy and we delighted in getting them to smile and feel at ease. Getting them to smile became easier and easier as the night went on. I think they were surprised to find themselves enjoying bluegrass music. Clayton said, "I felt like they were able to forget where they were for just awhile." Yes!!
We added a new song to our repertoire for this performance. It is actually an old song called, "Working on a Building." Clayton sang it and it went very well. I would put up a video of it, but we didn't bring the camera. We will try to get it up another time.
We were torn about whether we should do our usual "Mama Tried" and actually had scratched it from the set, but a friend told us it would be something the young men would probably connect with. So, we kept it and it led into an opportunity for Ben to talk about the Gospel. It was very meaningful and exciting to be there with these young men as they pondered Christ's offer of a redeemed life. Where would any of us be without the gift of a redeemed life?
Another highlight was, of course, "The Corn Dog Song." A couple of our boys wanted to scratch that song too. But, we decided to include it and the young men LOVED it!! Many sang along and I am sure that the next time the center's menu has corndogs on it, they will not be able to control the urge to sing that silly chorus.
After we were finished, we packed up and headed out into some more terrible weather for our long drive home. We listened to Cadillac Sky's album, Blind Man Walking, during the late night drive. One of the songs on the album, "Sinners Welcome," sticks out in my mind.
As we listened to the album that we have listened to many, many times, it struck us differently this time. Many of the songs on that album are songs about prisoners. And as we thought about it, we began to remember many other bluegrass tunes that refer to prison and being a prisoner. Once again, we became excited about bluegrass and how this basic, enduring music brings to light the basics of life, and often Christ.
We are looking very forward to our next performance in December at another detention center. Sinners Welcome!
God bless you. Next time you better do some of your Johnny Cash material.
Posted by: Carl Wade | 11/23/2009 at 08:21 PM
Hi Carl! Good to hear from you! Thank you so much! Yes, we were thinking some of the Johnny stuff might fit in too!
Posted by: Sally Hess | 11/26/2009 at 09:29 AM