Chapel Time : Snake River Correctional Facility

Here we are at Tri-Cities Baptist in Ontario, Oregon

Dear Prayer Team,

Friday morning it started with a tickle. The kind of scratchy tickle that you feel in your throat that tends to make vocalists go into panic. I was up before dawn, getting ready, and racing off to catch our bus, "Ginger". We were going to Eastern Oregon and I absolutely NEEDED my voice to be there with me. The scratch began to feel like a tightness, but I'd be fine that evening. We had a really fun concert and as far as I could tell, my voice was feeling only minor effects. By the time I got to bed that night the tightness had become a big lump in my throat. When I woke up at 5:30 AM to get ready for the ordeal of packing up, driving 45 minutes to the prison, inventorying all of our equipment for security and dragging it all to the chapel for setup, the lump started to feel like a fist. Not good! Two concerts that day and one the next. That would be a tough schedule even on a day when I felt vocally healthy. I just put it out of my mind and gave it to God.

It wasn't hard to forget about it as we made our way into the chapel and met all of the smiling Christian inmates who were so happy to see us. They made sure that we had everything that we needed and they asked us many times if they could help in any way. We got all set up and started sound check. I carefully sang through a couple of songs.

"How are you feeling Brian?"

"Umm, not very good, 'Over', but I think I'll be able to figure out a way to sing the songs today."

"Well," said, Jason reassuringly, "just give everything you've got for this concert and we'll take the next one as it comes!"

The men filed in. The chaplain got up and began to lead praise and worship at the keyboard with a full band of inmates. They had a drummer, rhythm guitarist, a top-notch lead guitarist, a wailin' harmonica player, and another vocalist. It was 9:00 AM and the capacity crowd of 250 - 300 inmates was ready to worship! We sat in the front row (stood mostly) as the name of Jesus Christ was lifted up unapologetically. Every fiber of the inmate vocalist on stage was given to praise and worship. They sang songs of God's love, dedication to Him, His protection, and most enthusiastically about the freedom that they have found in Christ even while in prison. A native American Christian sitting near us began to dance to the Lord using banners. He told me that there were some who wanted him to stop acting so silly during worship, "But my dance IS worship, so the chaplain says I should do it unto God and not worry about those who laugh."

After about 30 minutes of worship it was our time to sing. My little vocal problems didn't seem nearly as important as the act of worship, and I knew that even if my voice didn't quite do what I wanted it to do, the Word of God would still minister even through my weakness. We did skip, "For You", one of the harder songs for me to sing and the program went well. We also had a nice break in the middle when they had a prayer time. I started out the concert fairly gingerly, but by the end I was singing out pretty strong. There were a few glitches, but overall I was pretty happy with how it turned out, mostly because I could see that God was speaking to so many of the guys.

We finished our last song and they stood to their feet. An encore? "Over" leaned in and asked me if we could do "For You", I told him that I could probably make it through the song if I sang it lightly. We sang the song, and by the end I was in full voice and singing strong. They all stood to their feet again and we pulled aside to chat with the guys and shake their hands. We heard many testimonies, and stories of heartache, and we shed some tears. Then they were all commanded to head out the door. As they were leaving one inmate told me that we had three or four officers standing out by the back door listening in. He said, "You know you are doing good when you get them to come in and listen!"

We took a long lunch break in the officers' lunch facility and chatted with the prison ministry workers there. It was then that we shared the fact that I was sick and my voice was not doing well. "Well," said one of the chaplains, "We'll just have to get the intercessors to pray for you before the 2:00 service!"

We made our way back to the chapel and the inmates who help run the services came in and made preparations for the next service. Then they all circled up with the chaplains and RESCUE. We all joined hands and prayed for the service. Several people prayed for my voice and I definitely felt that God was going to do something special.

He did! I was able to sing the entire program full voice, not that there weren't any problems, but I really think that my vocal issues were not a factor during that time. It seemed to me that the rest of the guys were sounding even better than normal and our spoken introductions and prayers seemed very directed and powerful. It also didn't hurt that we received a standing ovation for every song we sang! That's testament to the anticipation and the great need for encouragement that was in the chapel that day.

Thank you, Lord, for allowing RESCUE to minister to souls so very aware of their need for you, and thank you for using us in our feeble flesh to demonstrate your great power and strength!