On Thursday of this week, I had the opportunity to perform in one of my favorite venues, the York County jail in in Alfred, Maine. I go there once or twice a year do share the Gospel through my juggling and magic routines. As is often the case, this time I did two shows, as there are certain population groups - based on gender and / or security level - that cannot be mixed together. Long time friend, Trent Boyd, is the chaplain who brought me in and whose work I could refer inmates to if my show got them curious about the Christian faith.
The day starts early at YCJ, so I had already gone through security and was in the gym setting up at 8:00 AM. Once set up, I had a few minutes to warm up. I was practicing with clubs as two female trustees (inmates with special privileges and responsibilities) were setting up chairs. Afterwards Trent told me that, after pausing to watch me juggle for a moment, one of the women said to the other, "Not bad for an old guy." I have, indeed, been at it a long, long time.
The first show had about 30 people in attendance. I was a bit rushed for time, as we had no flexibility as to when the second group would be brought in. Nonetheless, I tried to give them my best, and more importantly, a clear, albeit basic, message of God's grace through Jesus. I used my dove-from-ribbons effect for the first time ever, which means I had a total of three animal productions for the first time ever.
The second show was a lot more relaxed as there wasn't the time pressure to end quickly. I closed, as I did the first time, with a sleight of hand that told the parable of the lost coin. I explained to the group of perhaps 60 men and women that God, too, wanted back what was His... us. I explained that God is not an abusive old man, but rather a God of grace who wants more than anything to reclaim what is rightfully his. After praying with the audience, I noticed a man in the front row deeply moved and crying, as were a couple of the women. Thankfully, Trent is excellent at following up after an event like this, and has a great rapport with the inmates there.
As we were shaking hands with the audience as they were being escorted out at the end, one man asked, "Hey. Do you remember me? Last time I was thinking of the color lavender, and you read my mind!" Believe it or not, I was able to honestly tell him I did remember him, if only because lavender is such an unusual color for someone to pick when I do that routine. Another man told me the show had made his week.
As Trent was helping me get my props out to my van, a lady in the car next to mine threw open her door and popped out saying, "Hey pastor, I'm out! I'm out!" She had just been released (Trent said he was surprised not to see her at the show) and was so excited to share her news. It was fun to be a proverbial fly-on-the-wall for this little exchange.
After getting into my van, I headed to the town of Windham to do one last show at the state prison there. I'll write about that one soon.