Chaplain Rachel Ellington from the Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Facility in Brownwood created a blog to share her experiences and reflections from her day to day interactions with youth at the facility. The following is an excerpt from her blog regarding the observance of National Day of Prayer, earlier this month.
BROWNWOOD, Texas – None of us have the answers we want. We all crave to understand why things happen the way they do, the way we don’t want them to, the way they always have. The National Day of Prayer is a day that was set aside in 1775, before the United States was even a nation. The founding fathers knew that we didn’t have the answers, but prayer was the solution.
This year, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department knew this as well. Every state school (the politically correct term for maximum security juvenile detention center) was tasked with proving that prayer still works. On May 4th, all five institutions participated in this incredible event where staff, students, and volunteers implored a God in heaven to hear us.
My partner, Chaplain Rongey Madlock, and I had set it up so that each dorm would rotate through the chapel based on their lunch schedule (since the cafeteria is right across the street). We instructed the students to file into the pews, sit if they did not want prayer, and come forward if they did. Around twenty volunteers and staff lined the front of the chapel.
The first young man who walked up to me said this was only his second day on campus. He was worried about his mom who had just had surgery to remove a tumor from her intestines. After we prayed together, I asked him to hold out his hand. I took a small container of oil, and made the sign of the cross in his palm.
Back in Bible times, men were anointed with oil to signify that God was with them, and that He had a purpose for their life. It was considered a blessing.
I then handed him a Kleenex.
And this is so you don’t get it everywhere.
His eyes widened.
But Miss… If I wipe it off, does it go away?
Oh no, honey! Of course not!
I brushed tears away as the next kid stepped forward. One young man I prayed with asked to pray for his sister that she not go down the same path he had. Another asked to pray for me. Then, when we were just about to wrap up with the last group of boys, three young men were led in. Rongey asked if they wished to be prayed for. All three said yes. One walked up to me. He was nervous. He asked for me to pray for his mother in Mexico. After they sat back down with the rest of the group, we asked if there was anything else the boys needed to say before we dismissed. This same boy raised his hand.
I want Jesus.
The room went silent.
I want Jesus!
And he got Him.
After we had prayed over each boys’ dorm, there was a break in the schedule. We took this opportunity to proceed into a prayer walk all the way around the perimeter of campus. We prayed aloud as we walked. Someone even said:
Jesus, as we walk around this city, let the walls fall like Jericho.
Once we arrived back at the chapel, we released balloons as a sign of our prayers ascending to the throne of God and the spirits of oppression and depression being driven out. Ironically, one balloon got stuck in a tree. Chaplain Madlock laughed.
That one just don’t want to leave! Let’s go pray over it again and send it on its way.
So he and another volunteer went to get it unstuck. Next came the females.
I don’t think words would suffice to describe what happened when those girls stepped into that chapel. My prayer for this day had been that God would overwhelm them. And from where I was standing, that is exactly what was happening. Kids that I had seen throwing punches at correctional officers were on their knees weeping. They were literally crying out for God to move and change their attitudes. To change their lives.
Only God knows if they were sincere, but according to the Bible, the people who turned the world upside down were prisoners. The most impactful stories of all time were written in cells. Simon Peter committed assault, David committed murder, Rahab was a prostitute, and Paul was arrested several times. But prayer has a knack for setting the captives free.
BROWNWOOD, Texas – None of us have the answers we want. We all crave to understand why things happen the way they do, the way we don’t want them to, the way they always have. The National Day of Prayer is a day that was set aside in 1775, before the United States was even a nation. The founding fathers knew that we didn’t have the answers, but prayer was the solution.
This year, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department knew this as well. Every state school (the politically correct term for maximum security juvenile detention center) was tasked with proving that prayer still works. On May 4th, all five institutions participated in this incredible event where staff, students, and volunteers implored a God in heaven to hear us.
My partner, Chaplain Rongey Madlock, and I had set it up so that each dorm would rotate through the chapel based on their lunch schedule (since the cafeteria is right across the street). We instructed the students to file into the pews, sit if they did not want prayer, and come forward if they did. Around twenty volunteers and staff lined the front of the chapel.
The first young man who walked up to me said this was only his second day on campus. He was worried about his mom who had just had surgery to remove a tumor from her intestines. After we prayed together, I asked him to hold out his hand. I took a small container of oil, and made the sign of the cross in his palm.
Back in Bible times, men were anointed with oil to signify that God was with them, and that He had a purpose for their life. It was considered a blessing.
I then handed him a Kleenex.
And this is so you don’t get it everywhere.
His eyes widened.
But Miss… If I wipe it off, does it go away?
Oh no, honey! Of course not!
I brushed tears away as the next kid stepped forward. One young man I prayed with asked to pray for his sister that she not go down the same path he had. Another asked to pray for me. Then, when we were just about to wrap up with the last group of boys, three young men were led in. Rongey asked if they wished to be prayed for. All three said yes. One walked up to me. He was nervous. He asked for me to pray for his mother in Mexico. After they sat back down with the rest of the group, we asked if there was anything else the boys needed to say before we dismissed. This same boy raised his hand.
I want Jesus.
The room went silent.
I want Jesus!
And he got Him.
After we had prayed over each boys’ dorm, there was a break in the schedule. We took this opportunity to proceed into a prayer walk all the way around the perimeter of campus. We prayed aloud as we walked. Someone even said:
Jesus, as we walk around this city, let the walls fall like Jericho.
Once we arrived back at the chapel, we released balloons as a sign of our prayers ascending to the throne of God and the spirits of oppression and depression being driven out. Ironically, one balloon got stuck in a tree. Chaplain Madlock laughed.
That one just don’t want to leave! Let’s go pray over it again and send it on its way.
So he and another volunteer went to get it unstuck. Next came the females.
I don’t think words would suffice to describe what happened when those girls stepped into that chapel. My prayer for this day had been that God would overwhelm them. And from where I was standing, that is exactly what was happening. Kids that I had seen throwing punches at correctional officers were on their knees weeping. They were literally crying out for God to move and change their attitudes. To change their lives.
Only God knows if they were sincere, but according to the Bible, the people who turned the world upside down were prisoners. The most impactful stories of all time were written in cells. Simon Peter committed assault, David committed murder, Rahab was a prostitute, and Paul was arrested several times. But prayer has a knack for setting the captives free.