Archie is another one of the inmates that has gotten my attention. He is one of the guys that I often catch hanging his head and singing the blues. He has just recently started asking questions about what I believe and why I believe it. Usually he just asks me for more stuff and what I can bring him, but the last couple of days have been a little different.
His story is very typical with most of the men in the jail and he never fails to tell me the same story. Archie had a good life with two kids and a wife until he made a string of bad decisions that landed him here. His ultimate crime was drug selling, but the string of petty crimes has proven him to be a repeat offender, thus the reason his case keeps getting pushed off. This is a very typical story in the Malaybalay City Jail and so it’s tough to hear over and over. However, whenever men begin show signs of change and transformation, that makes it all worth it.
The other day, I spoke to Archie’s cell and right after he brought me a track that he had received from a group a few days earlier. He told me that some of the things in it seemed to contradict what I was saying and he wanted to know what was right. I just told Archie that I would give him my opinion and belief and it was up to him what he believed was true. I know what I believe, it’s time for him to develop his own belief. He just looked at me and said, “OK then, you just tell me what you believe because I believe you.”
One thing I always tell people is you have to make this thing yours. So many religions all over the world are passed down from generation to generation, but Christianity can’t be one of them because it’s hard to pass down a relationship. Archie, like many of the other men still has a long way to go. But I’m so blessed by these men and their stories…
