Friday was an easier day, and the POWER group seemed like it is starting to gel into a cohesive group of men. I am impressed by the number of father/son combo’s, and the number of men who have been with the program for many years (many from the beginning in 2001. The messages were inspirational, from the story of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-34), to the message from the founder of Faith Mission, Allen Ehlers, at lunch (a 53 year long ministry), and finally the story of the Shunammite woman (II Kings 4:8) after dinner. The last message by David Burkett was in a parking lot in Laredo, and as the temperature was dropping, the preacher’s voice was rising!
Our group visited the Acuna jail first in the morning. Pat brought his boom box and played Spanish Christian music as we met with about 70 inmates. After 4 Spanish speaking members of our group shared their testimony and Pat preached, several of us attempted to keep up with the inmates in a spirited soccer game inside of the enclosed concrete courtyard. After giving out soccer balls, some blankets and clothing, some of our group were able to share with the inmates. Jay related to me that he had met with a man named Jose, who had been pulled over by the police and thrown into jail after being beaten by them until he had admitted to a trumped up charge. Pat confirmed that the inmate was a past volunteer at the church, and he knew him to be an honest man. Pat gave him some money that unbeknownst to Jay had been donated by another POWER group member for providing specifically for a prisoner’s. The money will go towards providing for his young son’s needs. Jay relates that the prisoners have to sleep on concrete floors in the jail with no blankets. The temperature has been dropping below freezing this week!
After the jail visit, Pat took us to do some street evangelizing in another part of Acuna. We gave out toys, clothes, backpacks and blankets to a crowd of about 50 adults and children. The sun started to come out, and one of the residents invited us into his home and treated us to tamales and sodas. He has a home business of making tamales and selling them at factories across the border.
We finished out the day by climbing into the vans again and driving 6+ hours to McAllen, Texas, with a stop over in Laredo for a pizza dinner. We arrived at the hotel at 1 am, and pretty much crashed in our rooms. It was a long, but satisfying day.