Jeff's first update

This is Jeff's first update. Before I type what Jeff has given me, I'll just update you on what Jeff is up to. His day begins at 6:30 for breakfast. He has a job picking up trash in the recreation area. I'm not sure if he does this in the morning or in the afternoon. At any rate, at 10:30 he eats lunch. He walks about 5 miles a day, I think he breaks this into a couple of walking sessions. He does not have athletic shoes in which to jog, yet. At 4:30 he eats dinner. He does not have any say in when he eats, that is how it works. Interspersed throughout the day are prisoner counts. There are no walls in the camp, so he is not bound by that, but the prisoners are not to go beyond a line.

He welcomes letters, and he says the weekends are very slow. Jeff wants to answer most of the recurring questions on the blog. Anyway, here is what he had to say on April 28.

I want to share with you my spiritual perspective of life in a federal prison camp. I've only been in this institution for 2 weeks, nonetheless, I think my initial experience relates to many of you who are looking for something different with regard to your spiritual growth. There is a fairly good sized church here (the camp has about 589 prisoners ; VCmoney's edit). Like most most churches I've attended, however, they don't do a very good job of welcoming new people. I'm not sure what the reason is. I continue to to attend every meeting possible (of which there are 5 a week). I go mainly for two reasons. First, I want to meet some people with whom I can share, pray, encourage, and, in turn, be encouraged. Second, I go to get some positive input. What I mean is that there is so much swearing, sexual innuendo, etc. that I just don't wnt to hear it anymore.

There have been some good messages. I'll share a few that impacted me. One of the first messages was on the commandments. The ??? commandment says you shall have no other idol before God. Now we all know that money, careers, homes, possessions, etc. can become idols. The speaker pointed out that our families can also be idols. In other words, we can put our families before God. I struggled with this long before I was sentenced to prison. I still do. I prayed that if God wanted me to serve Him in prison, I would accept that. However, I still have difficulty trusting God to take care of my family. I cannot trust the creator of the universe, a God who cares about a sparrow falling from a tree, a God who numbers the hairs on our head, to take care of my family. Oddly, though, I have seen him take care of my family in spite of my faith. This is obviously something of which I will have to let go.

Another profound messag, which I think applies to everyone, is that God has me here for a purpose. Many of the men here talk about the injustices that occurred to get them to a place like this. Some of the leaders in the church who have 15 year sentences or longer, realize that God is working. Even in the 2 weeks I've been here I can see how God is using this church to change lives in a drastic way.

I don't recall having a sense of purpose when I was working. I guess the purpose was to support my family. I often thought I was called to support missionaries. I didn't do much of that the last several years. I believe I persuaded myself that taking care of my family was all I had to do to serve God. Then my family became more important to me than God. I don't know what purpose I will have for God when I get out, but for now, I'm content to know God has a purpose for me. I pray that I would be worthy of the gospel and when he reveals that purpose I will be ready to serve.

Jeff