Recently, a guard in the jail who I am friends with approached me and told me that his mom had four big thick jampacked garbage bags full of clothing, shoes, and boots, for people who are being released from the jail. KJM has become the main provider of clothing for people who are being released from the Kalamazoo County Jail, including winter coats. We pray that the LORD will equip us and bring the clothing and materials to KJM, so that we can properly care for the people who are being released from the jail. So, this guard gave me his family‘s contact information, for me to set up a time to get the clothing.
A few days later, I was directed to go to this guard’s childhood house that he grew up in. The guard’s mom was there when I arrived. She was outside, and she directed me to the garage, where she then pointed to the four big jampacked garbage bags. There were boots, jeans, all sorts of high-quality warm clothes, including winter coats. Jackpot!
When I was picking up the clothing, the guard‘s mother said:
“This was his grandpa‘s clothing.”
She was referring to the guard‘s grandpa, and, of course, that meant that it was her dad.
“Oh wow!“ I said to the mom. “That’s amazing…“
I loaded the clothing into my car, I brought it to the jail, and put it in with the other clothing in “the out area” of the jail, for the people at their time of release from the jail.
A day went by, and then I saw the guard.
“Brother!“ I said. “Were those clothes your grandpa‘s?“ I asked.
This guard is quite peaceful, and he said, in his peaceful, confident demeanor:
“Yes.”
“Wow!,“ I responded. “You have a awful big heart, brother, to donate those special clothes to the jail ministry!“ I said.
I gave the guard a hug and I said, joking, but to make a point, “you’re my hero brother!“
Then another two days went by, and that leads to Tuesday of last week. I saw the guard again coming out of the B West wing of the jail. The guard asked me if I knew a specific inmate that was in the A West wing.
“Yes, I know that inmate,“ I said. And then the guard didn’t say anything else. After a moment, I said:
“Why are you asking, brother?“ And his calm demeanor, the guard said to me:
“While that person was being released the other day, when I was over there in “the out area,” he needed some clothing. So, I went back to get into the clothing area to get some clothing for him, including a coat and some jeans, and the jeans were my grandpa‘s. I could tell by the smell, and just by remembering those clothes, and I knew those were my grandpa’s.“
The guard said this and a wonderful smile peaceful smile was on his face. He was feeling it a little bit, too: feeling the joy of helping someone in need someone who doesn’t deserve anything.
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