   |
|||
|
|
News Articles |
||
Multi-Site
|
The Austin American-Statesman Glory behind bars: Ministry's power flows in inmates by Mike Kelley KARNES CITY -- While Billy Graham was shattering attendance records at the Alamodome in San Antonio, the spiritual fervor could have been no greater than among the 75 prison inmates who filled a dining hall here to hear the gospel from a dynamic young Austin preacher. ``We've been looking forward to this for weeks, and praying that it would happen,'' said Bill Colantonio, a 26-year-old inmate. Colantonio, like the other 500 prisoners in the Karnes County Correctional Center, is from Colorado, imprisoned under a contract between that state and the privately operated facility. Bringing the word to the prisoners, who sat on green metal benches in the bare-walled, concrete-floored dining hall, was Todd Phillips, 27, a minister of evangelism at Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin. He was here Saturday as part of the Graham Crusade's Prison Ministries program, which sends preachers into prisons and jails in the area where Graham is holding a crusade. Karnes City is about 60 miles southeast of San Antonio. Margaret White, an official with the crusade said Phillips was invited to preach because of his talents. ``He has outstanding gifts,'' she said. Even before Phillips rose to speak, it was evident that his audience was eager to hear. A 15-man inmate choir sang a number of hymns, which elicited joyous hand-clapping and shouts from the others. Many brought with them well-marked Bibles in case the preacher should turn to Scripture. And that he did. Phillips, who said he became a Christian himself only three years ago, talked the inmates through the life of Jesus, demonstrating with scriptural references how God was incorporated in his son. And, he told the prisoners, ``I don't know what you did to get in here. But Jesus became that rape, that robbery, that murder. He became that sin so you don't have to pay for it. He's already paid for it whether you like it or not.'' The inmates were clearly animated by Phillips' sermon, responding to him several times with ``Yes'' and ``That's right.'' And the young minister, who had never preached to inmates before, was moved by his reception. After the ceremony, as inmate after inmate hugged him and thanked him for coming, Phillips said, ``I am rarely speechless, but I believe I am now.'' ``It was a good experience,'' said prisoner Joe Foss, 40. He said it had been about four months since a visiting minister had come to the Karnes County Center. ``The prisoners in here need that,'' he said, ``and the more time we can give to the Lord, the more glory God can have in this place.'' Colantonio, who's serving an 18-year sentence for, among other things, assaulting an officer, said he was grateful for Phillips' visit. ``People come in from the streets (the outside), and they're taking their time and they're spending their own money, and I just see the grace of God being manifested,'' he said. ``A lot of these people in here,'' Colantonio said, ``they don't have anything, and this is just love being manifested.'' Bryan Scram of Denver, who is serving a 12-year-sentence on two counts of assault, agreed. ``This is a kind of seminary,'' said the 32-year-old Scram. ``You' re taken away from everybody you love on Earth and your earthly possessions. You're 1,200 or 1,500 miles from home, and it gives you a chance to soul-search and that's what today was all about: a soul search."
|
||
