This next minor
had an immediate special place in my heart; we’ll call him “Brad”.
The first day we
showed up, Brad caught my eye. It
was obvious he was a new kid in the jail and was somewhat unsure about his
surroundings. During activities
and our time of running around the basketball court, he had the biggest smile
on his face and was enjoying the games.
However, when we started with our lessons and speaking with the boys
individually, shyness and shame took over and all I could see was the top of
his head.
Many of the 10
boys in the prison have somewhat similar stories; basic elementary education,
dropped out, influenced by gang life, then committed one too many crimes and
landed here. Brad’s story is
similar except for the fact that he has never been in a classroom before so
reading and writing his own language is hard enough, but then we add English
and Math and it’s a little overwhelming.
After the first
day, it was obvious a couple of the boys needed a little more attention than
others, so Jodi split them into groups.
When I came back at the end of the second day, it was such a blessing to
see how the specialized teaching for Brad and the other two boys had changed
their outlook on our time with them.
While it took Brad several minutes to write one sentence because he
carefully studied each stroke of his pencil, making sure each letter was
perfect, it was clear he wasn’t giving up on learning. It was so fun to watch him try and make
his letters exactly like Jodi’s and then show them off with a huge smile when
he finished.
Each day the boys
learn to read and say new words, and the first few days, Brad would just ask
the other boys for help so he wouldn’t look foolish when it came his turn to
say the words aloud. Unfortunately
for him, Jodi is a little tougher teacher than that, so after a few days, he
was required to sound out each word himself before moving on. The first couple of times were just
frustrating and it was obvious he was a little embarrassed. However, yesterday I returned to see
him sound out a few words correctly and that huge smile returned to his face.
It’s crazy what
we take for granted because even though Brad is 16, he finds such joy in
reading his first English words like “lift” and “look”. It’s obvious that with each day of
class, his confidence grows. We
end each day with finding new words that describe our new identity in Christ
and while I know he doesn’t fully understand the meaning of “redeemed”, “forgiven”,
or “worthy”, the message of these words is taking hold of his heart. He doesn’t have to understand the exact
definition of these words, because he’s getting to see them played out.
These boys all have a new identity and are not marked by their
past. Through education and these
lessons, these boys are seeing that they are worth it and they could have a new
life ahead of them…
