Kairos Ferguson #66 (Dec 27-30, 2018) In Their Own Words

Transcription

1 Kairos Ferguson #66 (Dec 27-30, 2018) In Their Own Words Since each of you did not have the opportunity to receive each of the letters that were written by the candidates and stewards from this most recent 4-day weekend, this document consolidates extracts from that body of letters to share with you (and for you to share with others) in their own words. We have tried to limit the editing of their words to only what is necessary to make them more readable in some cases trying to keep it real for you. Some of the letters are incredibly refined and others are simply real. Those who may identify themselves as stewards are inmates that have been on a previous Kairos, but this time assisted our team as servants to the new candidates on this 4-day weekend at Ferguson. As you can see, they recognize that it is more blessed to give than to receive an important concept in furthering their Christian growth. The weekend always includes a number of candidates with Spanish as their primary (or only conversational) language. (TDCJ stands for Texas Department of Criminal Justice) First off I want to thank God for giving ya ll the love to prepare and gave everything that I have received this Kairos weekend. I can honestly say I have a better understanding of God s love for me. God has given me an invisible compass to righteousness through ya ll. God bless I d like to just let you know that my time through Kairos has been life changing and a big eye opener through all things GOOD. I ve realized that theres hope in my life to make change and I want that more than anything. To save myself before things become worse off. I ve always been scared to open up and let my walls down and accept help through God s people because I was always worried about being judged or looked at differently. But through this experience those walls have been shattered and I ve seen light at the edge of the path I m on. And I m going to embrace that with everything I have and make sure that I take some things that you all have given me through these past couple days with me through the rest of my life. I want this feeling to last forever and it s one of the best things that s ever happened in my life by far. I never would of thought I d change but just in the blink of an eye its been done. My plans for my future turns bright. Know that I will be giving myself to help others just as you all have done for me. In that I thank you and my heart goes out to each and every one of you for doing what most have never thought to do for me. God bless you and my love for Christ is anew. Through all things there is hope!! Sincerely Thank you for your time. Thank you for treating me as a human a normal human. A human of worth when I ve felt worthless for years & growing cold of heart. Ya ll have shown me love & kindness to warm my heart to others. 1

2 This weekend really hit basic. I learn a lot from you guys. I thank God that I got a chance to take this walk cases I leard a lot about God & myself as well. With that been said thank God & you guys as well. God Bless Agape 4 Ever Its crazy because as I was getting lost behind these walls, losing a sense of hope & getting accustomed to the circumstances & conditions that we live in, I was blessed with the opportunity to experience true Christianity, love & friendship. As well as restored the hope that I lost. Seeing the simple fact that people just like myself, people who have problems of their own sacrifice their time to help me & others like me to open our eyes & remove the wool from them, to guide us in the right directions. To know people really & truly care about our salvation is a big blessing & joy. During this experience I gained knowledge of our Father & the necessary steps to take to save myself from my own short comings. I loved seeing the cool pictures kids drew for each one of us. The cookies were amazing! The handwritten letters found a soft spot in a heart even like my own. Seeing how many people pray for us gives me hope & joy as well as a sinse of worth. I on my behalf & the rest of the Brothers experiencing Kairos 66 I want to say thank you all so much! And I want to thank God for sending each & every one of yall to fulfill his will & deeds, he put them in the perfect hands!! Thanks & God Bless. P.S. thanks for the extra pounds I gained. God Bless! This weekend has been awesome. Spending time with these people people who for no other reason other than their sincere desire has been a eye-opening experience. The love is something I will always take with me. From the chain of prayers, the delicious meals, desserts, and snacks to the notes given to us, I am grateful. It is not easy to open yourself to this much love. Experience has taught many of us that opening yourself up freely, to be vulnerable, is dangerous. But I realize that to expect that pain is to also close myself off to the wonderful new world that awaits us all. The time and effort put into Kairos #66 the prayers and gestures will give me comfort through this journey. The delicious taste of love will forever be the flavor I look for in any relationship. And food, without a doubt. Thank you so much for this light in the dark place. God bless you for this and the impression of love you have made on us all. Know that your gifts are not in vain. We appreciate it all. Sincerely This Kairos weekend has by far been one of the best experiences of my life. During the Forgiveness Phase, I realized how much I ve been holding in, walking around with, how much I ve trapped myself, by holding on to others people actions, bad experiences. (You re Not Alone) That title alone means so much to me, because, that s a feeling thought I ve been walking around with theses past 7 years. Kairos have not only told me, but also has shown me that I m not alone. There s a lot of beautiful kids, strong men and women in our corner, showing us support. I ve been battling with myself, wanting to do better be better, continuing to tell myself that I was going to do better, but still I would only do the complete opposite. However, I m better now, and more sure than I have ever been. Kairos gave me the push I needed. My heart, my mind and spirit is in the right place. Thank you for making it possible, for being so loving, showing me that Agape love, and opening my eyes. Thank you for everything, love you, and God bless you. Know that your obedience to serve God, by giving your time and resources and by being pliable and open to His direction, you have greatly affected and encouraged us to either consider God s invitation to real living, through His grace and sacrifice, or you have opened us to a 2

3 strengthening in our relationship with our eternal Father by facilitating and allowing us a brief moment to step away from the daily struggles of prison and to be surrounded by loving children of God. Our time allowed here, by the care and sacrifice of so many, will be forever membered and cherished and will have eternal repercussions towards the greater glory of His kingdom. Know that you have made a difference. Sincerely To the free world people. I would like to thank you for your time and concern for the food, talks and altogether the love, friendship, kindness. It means a lot to me and I want you to know that I m praying for yall. With much love and respect, your Brother. This weekend has filled my heart with love. Before I was soo angry cause I had felt forgotten by the closest people I call Family. Its so unique that God uses people to open their hearts, stories, homes to strangers. I was given soo much love by the Kairos team and sponsors, more than by my own Family. We don t have to be related to love one another as Family. Jesus Christ is our Father. I m thankful to have this love inside my heart, and its because yall loved me, and taught me that Christ loved us to share that love amongst one another. I believe this journey will allow me to show the same love unto others. The best way to describe this of how thankful I am is this metaphor. I needed a heart, with no hesitation yall gave up your own for me to live. Thank you this will be a memory tattoed on my heart forever!! May we all love Jesus and be with him. I love you!! (Your Brother-In-Christ) I d like to take a minute to tell you what this weekend meant for me. Easily, it could be summed up in one word, love. But it s more than that to me because it gave me something I ve been losing and that (is) my own love of God and others. In here I ve been apart of a family that act as if they love me, but in reality they just wanted something from me. But it was the only family I ve had and it was mine. I ve never felt the love that I have this weekend, not from on one and the fact that it is from people I don t even know completely touches me. Today, I left that family behind, after seeing real love, I don t want anything else. I trust God will protect me and do all the things I ve been putting in the wrong hands. My only regret is that I know I ll never see any of you again, or get to say hi to the ones behind the scenes. Thank God for you all. I m truly blessed to be a part of Kairos #66 which is my first Little League Football Number (he is referring to the cheering they get as they come through the door one by one at the start of the weekend). I truly did not think any tears would drop from y eyes but I man up & let them flow. I closed my eyes so that I could block out everybody around me & focuse on the act at hand & let go and let God move through me as well as around me. This weekend has given me what I needed to lift me up and truly 4 days is not enough but is sadisfying to the soul. Spiritual peace of mind is what I needed & God blessed me with that. This for days & the love that you all have shown not only me but all the brothers present here today I thank God for blessing yall with a BIG heart, bigger than Texas. To do what you all do whether your presents was spiritual, mentual, or physical. God may He continue to use yall for his plands. No lie the very first day right before I walked in the church spooked me down to my soul. When I heard all the clapping & shouting I question myself what did I sign up for & I seriously thought not to walk inside to see what was going on. Then I checked myself real quick & I told myself you signed up for this, man up & walk your butt in there (the church) & see what is in store for you. Now guess what I did? I maned up if that ain t a word it is NOW! Tell Webster I own the copy rights to MANED up. Now I walked through that door scared. Please understand I m a Black mixed race 3

4 man, poundish living in a prison with men that are not considered human do to their crime. Some will live out their last days in this prison. I ve been here 7 ½ years AND These Human BEINGS DON T SCARE ME NOT ONE BIT, BUT THE KAIROS MEMBER TURNED MY SOUL to the point that if my soul could have jumped out of my skin it would have. SERIOUSLY!!! Yall scared me & that was with nothing but love & a Judge free zone was offered. I walk through those doors embarrassed like a shamed little boy. Come the 2 nd day I woke up at 3:17 am ready for Kairos to start. I was High not on any drug. Seriously I even tried to go back to sleep but I could not calm my heart down. My spirit was & is now filled with joy as I write this & that filling is all because of YOU ALL THANK YOU I m at PEACE mind, body & soul & I ll ride this high out through out This time will be cherished for life as well as the letter & place matts the children made. Thank you all take care. Obviously my first thing to say is thank you for the work you do in order for me to have such an awesome experience. But to be more exact. I was touched when I read personal letters written to me. I felt like a kid unwrapping Christmas presents. This is no understatement. My prayer sometimes to God is Thank you for coming here, to this prison to be with me. You were obedient to God s calling and thru you I have a physical visit which is what any prisoner asks for. Thank you for spending a whole 4 days with me here in this ugly place. Food! Sweets are prized and I have (because of you) an endless supply of cookies. For a brief moment I forgot what food on this unit tastes like. A Blessing! I notice that the cookies don t look like a perfect store bought. You took the time to bake for me. You don t know me but you Bless me like I m your family. I thank you for your Agape love. The love comes straight from heaven. Your screwed up brother in Christ. Man I 1 st was exposed to Kairos last December (#64). Kairos gave me a new focus & some new friends. I m a steward this time around. I bet you guys get a different feeling from this each time. Every group is different. Different people, perspectives, & struggles. The search for something is always the same though. Even for the free world volunteers like XXX & XXX bring on a feeling of LOVE. They haven t even begun to see their own unique path that life will take them on I m determined to get someone that I care about deeply on the outside to experience this I could go on & on but thank you for yet one more experience. Happy New Year First of all I want to give all the honor and glory to God. And thank God for allowing me to expirence the KAIROS walk. I was struggleing with my walk with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It help me forgive myself and others and truly freed me to enjoy the love of our Savior. Your brother in Christ To the sponsor this had been a great experience for me. I thank God for you all. This Kairos ha really opened up my eyes to greater and newer positive things so I m very thankful of that. I ask that yall keep me in yalls prayers. I just saw Parole so I need all the prayers I can get to make this Parole. I also would like to do Kairos on the outside. Thanks for all the love. First most I would like to say thanks for showing the love and teaching me more of understanding the love with other s and knowing that God loves is real. 4

5 I want to take this time out to thanks God for this bless you have giving us to exprince. This next moment mean so much too me cause I thought this walk was all about food as the devil was telling me at first. This walk was more than just eating, more like getting full on Christ as well his name. I m so thankful for you carring and prepareing al meal you diddn t have to make. This weekend I thank you as well send thanks of God towards yall sould. Trust me the food (was) great, loving and bless over before we received the great meals (we sing a before meals prayer that is liked). I cryed, I pray, I m thankful, I received a full great blessing from God, as well yall. Thanks to kids, please tell them I m greatful, and I wish I could tell them how they made me share a tear of they words. I know God going to hug them for me and they will geel that blessing they gave us. Thanks God, Thanks yall, in I appreciate everything in this changing of a new start. God s son I am thankful that God brought yall here to help us get closer to God. This weekend was a blessing from God. I m glad to know I am not alone. God is always with us. This experience has changed me completely. When I get home I want to be a sponsor for KAIROS. I want to help pepole and show pepole the way to God. I want to show them the love yall showed me. Much love Thank you for ya lls hleping carein hands to do all this for us Men! The weekend for me ment more then this redneck can spill so here we go. I v found my own forgiveness for myself, I keep a lot lock in. Ya ll helped (me) move on. Thank ya ll, thank you, God Bless N Keep My weekend has been wonderful. I know you all is not looking for a thank you or anything because all thank go to God, but thank you anyways all of you for taking time out of your day to prepare everything for us guys in white. I learn this weekend that there is really good hearted people on the outside, because I always felt that everyone does things for something in return like that they have intentions for the things they do, but I see that s not true, and that you can really trust people. I m grateful for this Kairos #66 because it seems like the officers here see you happy and joyful and try to steal that away from you because of their problems on the outside. I wish you all can make a Kairos just for the officers because I think they need to witness this. Maybe it will change their hearts. So thanks you all and God bless you, you are now my family. All is one. I would like to thank every one of you that took the time out of yalls busy life to show us that we are not alone and that means a lot to me Thanks very much, God Bless you I want to thank you all for everything you have done for Kairos 66. This was my first Kairos and I can truly say this was a wonderful experience. The cookies, letter, and drawings really touched my heat. I can t explain the feeling you all have brought upon me. I haven t felt this way in a long time. From the bottom of my heart I want to say again Thank You. Your Brother I would like to thank you for giving me a weekend to remember. I love the food and cookies that yall take your time and dedication make them taste wonderfully. Every bite I toke give me the joy of the a fat kid eating cake. Thank you very and so much for bring me joy behind the physical wall. KAIROS! WOW and that s an understatement! Over the weekend I have had a wonderful experience bonding, breaking down barriers that have helf me back in life. Being able to be 5

6 myself and let things off my chest and not be judged (and) to be around some wonderful brothers! God s love is amazing! Thanks for the tasty food, fruit & cookies. What did it for me was the mail with prayers. How my brothers & sisters in Christ take the time to pray for me & write words of encouragement and not even know me. Thanks you all & Round of Applause for a Job Well Done because you all have touched my heart love you all, your Brother In Christ I would like to thank you all for your support and love toward Christ. The definition of agape was shown to the fullest and open me up to understand love in a whole nother perspects (perspective). So much to move me in the direction of coming closer to God. Which is well needed. This is a walk in my life that will always be remember and value to the end of my days. Thanks again. God Bless and keep us all. Love, your Brother N Christ. GLORY BE TO GOD!! Man what an experience! This has been the best I ve felt in a long time. I haven t had a real hug in a long time and to feel the love that the volunteers and the sponsors and all who have participated in the Kairos event #66 has put me (in) a place I didn t think I ll ever reach. Through this experience I have found myself. I ve repented my life to my Lord and Savior!! I thank God for you all!! Thank you for your prayers and all that you have done for us this weekend. You are appreciated Dearly. Love You Guys!! God Bless You!! This past Kairos weekend has been such an amazing experience. I ve had several Holy Spirit moments. It s truly hard to fathom the love that s so kindly given by Kairos sponsors. I will never forget this experience & I look forward to sharing God s love to others. God Bless. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! FYI It s not that often I cry & I can only remember one other time I actually cried in public, but when I came out of the chapel area to my family table & I had a bag full of letters from you guys I was so touched. It only took one letter for the tears to start running down my face. And then I couldn t stop crying. They were tears of joy & love. Thanks again. All praises be unto God! I would like to first of all thank you for all you have done to make this KAIROS weekend, the best weekend I ve had in prison! God s love can truly be felt through your works! I appreciate everything you ve done to make it special for those of us locked behind bars. Some chose to just give up on us, but through people like you, God shows us that his love is real and that he s not ready to give up on us. May God shine his Grace on all of you. Thank You! I would like to take this time out to say I thank our heavenly Father for sending you our way! I have witnessed love and unity of the coming together of all walks of life. We have dined together, opened our hearts together and mainly worshiped and prayed together. For one weekend we felt so much love from your cooking, letters, and preparation, we were one for four days! Thankyou and we love you and will continue to uplift you all in prayer. Soldier of the Most High God bless you for all of the kindness, love, selfless devotion that our Lord Jesus Christ, has put on your heart to help make this special time with God that much more worth the whole experience. Love is something that is very absent inside these walls and is lacking. You do not know me, but you love me enough to devote your time, effort and prayers to. Thank you so very much! Romans 8:28. I will be praying for you to the Lord our God! May the peace of the Lord be with you always! 6

7 This KAIROS weekend meant a lot to me. It showed me know matter what colr, shaope, or size you is, we can come together and show the love of the Lord. Thank God and everyone else that made this weekend special to me. These past four days have been awesome. I will be truthfull, originally I signed up for the food, which by the way has been really great. I know you have worked hard to make that possible. However it has not been the best part. The best part of these past four days has been the sense of unity & the genuine feeling of love and love that has been shown. Coming from where we are coming from that means a lot. They say technically we are not suppose to thank you because it s God who works in you, but hey if the physical is to complement the spiritual and visa versa well they would both deserve thanks in my opinion. So thank you for your care and love and thank God for the light of the Christ that shines through you. I m glad to have had these dealings in my travels. Many God bless you and may all continue our travels throughout life in his safety. Sincerely I would like to thank all of you, this experience has really changed the way I look at things. I am really going to change my life. I have really been trying to change for a long time, Thanks You for letting me know that someone else really cares. I will keep all of you in my prayers. God bless all of you. Thank you for your time. Sincerely Thank you for the time you took to help me open my door wider for the Lord. The prayers you have given for the brothers. Thank you for passing the Lord s message. God bless you all. I really feel good about being a part of Kairos and its family and that s love. Its listeners and that s relief. To all the sponsors helping out with this Kairos 66, first of all I want to thank God for putting it on all your hearts to want to help us. I know that all of this truly comes from the heart. The time, most importantly that you spend to help out in this really means a lot. I m sure you all have plenty other things more important things to do other than organize this for a bunch of dumb men. Just know that it is not taken for granted. I came to this Kairos with Jesus already in my heart but it showed me the love that we are all to show to each other. It s made me realize that its not all about me. Just seeing these men open up to you and brake down and be themselves makes me realize that because I know the truth I have to share it with them and brake them down. I thank you for the food it was all great. I pray that God keep blessing you all, your familys and friends. That he keep pushing you all to keep doing God s work. THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS. I thank you for answering God s call to help me and my brothers in white this weekend. I have enjoyed everything yall have done for us. I don t really know what I was expecting when I was walking into this weekend but this was not it. It was WAY more! I have opened my mind and heart to the message God has sent to me through all of yall. Thank you for showing me God s love through your actions. Being in a place like this you tend to forget what love really feels like and I can honestly say that this experience has saved me. This has been life changing to say the least. Thank yall and thank God. With ALL my love. I m a Steward for Kairos #66 and this is my 3 rd Kairos altogether. 1 st as a candidate and my 2 nd time as a steward, and by far this one is the most touching due to the blessing s that has been 7

8 happening in my life lately, so just know that everything you do is greatly appreciated, to be more truthful, it s another blessing in my life. You are Appreciated for everything and I mean Everything you all do. It really shows that we are loved and that people still and do care for Us. You all have Blessed Us so I ask and pray that God many Bless You More. And for your Prayers, it makes me happy brings tears and a smile to my face knowing you all pray for Us. You are appreciated Thank You and May God Bless You! Your Brother in Christ. It comes a time in your life when you need a jump start. When we forget about God sometime we need a push and thank you for that. I got a new friend in God! I will never forget that. I really thank you for your time. What you have done for me was open my heart and I let God in. Your love is real, your love is true, I felt you the whole time, I felt God presence, you came to me when I needed the Church, God is real, I seen it threw your love you had for me. Again Thank You, I really mean that from my heart, God is real Thank you for letting the Lord work through you in making this weekend one of the greatest lifechanging experiences of my life. This meant the world to me and let me know there are people in this world who are truly god-fearing and loving children of God. Without your love for the Lord this would not be possible. I love you and God in you! Este es el mejor regalo que dios a da do experimentar el amor de Jesu Cristo. Tu hermano En Christo Qui ero dor grasias a Dios por esta bendision que mea dodo de poder estar en KAIROS y de poder ber como el espiritu quebronto olgunos corasones de algunos que no conosen a cristo berdadevo merte esto es una o la major esperizensia de mi bida y serbiza de buen testimonio para nuchos de mis comporieros y para mi Familia grosis Dios y grosias KAIROS. Por la oportunidor grasias. Y quiero agradecer a todos y tambien a la jente que esa a fuera a pollandonos en estos 4 dias. Tambien les quiero dar las gracias pro rezair por mi familia y for mis amigos que sola mente. Fengo uno que me quiere y me apolla machas gracias. Senores y Tamilia mughas gracias y gracias a dios. Es tamos juntos en estos dias marabillozos gracias Senores. Mil gracias Amen. 8