Trent Garrett had a fantastic one day retreat this past Saturday.
Below is his summary. Remember, if you would like to serve on his November team, reach out to him with an email.
We arrived at the front gate around 7:50 am. Rev. Tom Crosby and I rode together. The guards on the gate were extremely welcoming and we entered the Front Gate without incident. Arriving just ahead of Tom and myself we the Rev. Doyle Bennett, Bro. Rodney Young, Bro. Morris Talley, Bro. Mike Ryan and Bro. Robert “Bob” Leitner. About 5 minutes later Bro. Joel Bajat, Bro. Bud Richardson Bro. Benjamin “Ben” Nabors and Bro. Laine Leger arrived. We sat and waited. Around 8:15 am, Rev. Freddie “Jackson” Sanders, Bro. Gerald Sanders, Bro. Rusty Chastant and Bro. John Brown arrived. God has truly moved in a mighty way in forming this One Day Retreat team.
Everyone packed into their vehicles and headed for Main Prison.
It was a beautiful day. The rain held off most of the day. The group gathered in the area just outside the cage and Rev. Freddie “Jackson” Sanders led us in a short prayer.
The One Day was held upstairs in the Education Building down the walk from the Chapel. The residents were waiting for us. They seemed almost as excited to see us as we were to see them. Anthony, Maurice, the Chaplain, etc. had packed the room with residents. We had seven (7) tables, each with 6 residents. Rev. Doyle Bennett and Bro. Morris Talley, Bro. Rodney Young and Bro. Bud Richardson, and Bro. John Brown and Bro. Ben Nabors each partnered at three of the tables. Rev. Tom Crosby, Bro. Bob Leitner, Bro. Joel Bajat and Bro. Laine Leger each acted as table leaders at the remaining four (4) tables.
Bro. Gerald Sanders and Bro. Rusty Chastant, with a little help from Rev. Freddie Sanders, started off the One Day with a few songs to get everyone up on their feet. After that, Bro. John Brown gave the first talk of the day entitled, “Strive to Live in the Truth.” Bro. John encouraged the group to, “Seek, know, speak and live the truth.” Laine Leger then gave a talk entitled, “Loving is Better than Hurting.” Laine wanted the residents to know that Jesus calls us to, “Love your enemies, love those who disagree, love the sinner and Live Him.” (Meaning, Christ gave us the example to follow.) The third talk was given by Rev. Tom Crosby and it was entitled, “Seek Christian Fellowship.” Rev. Crosby asked the residents to discuss at their tables, “How do I stay connected with other believers?”
The fourth talk was given by Bro. Benjamin “Ben” Nabors and it was entitled, “Love the Samaritan.” Bro. Ben gave the residents and team members a little of the history behind the relationship between the Samaritans and the Jews. Bro. Ben suggested that we not let differences divide us. The fifth talk was entitled, “Destroying Hatred.” Bro. Joel Bajat encouraged the residents and team members to have love for one another. We may not always like each other but “We must forgive as we are forgiven.”
Bro. Checo Yancy arrived at Main Prison around 12:30 with 25 pizzas. The group took about 30-40 minutes and broke bread together. Afterwards, Bro. Gerald Sanders, Bro. Rusty Chastant and Rev. Freddie Sanders led several songs.
Rev. Freddie Sanders then gave the sixth talk entitled, “Carrying the Christ-Light.” Rev. Sanders asked a very poignant question, “Can the world see Christ in you?” Certainly something we all need to ask ourselves daily.
Bro. Checo Yancy then gave the seventh talk entitled, “Pray Every Day.” Bro. Yancy told the group that, “We need to be able to surrender our will to Christ’s will for us.” The final talk was given by Rev. Doyle Bennett. Rev. Bennett started by asking us, “What would Jesus Do?” Rev. Bennett took us on a brief walk through some of the highways and byways that Jesus passed through on the way to the Cross. At the end of our journey, Rev. Bennett asked us, “How can I begin doing what Jesus would do?”
The members of the team attending the One Day Retreat at Angola-Main Prison departed for home after Rev. Doyle Bennett prayed for the guards, the administration, the residents and for safe travels for the team members. We started with fifteen team members, when we left, there were sixteen of us, including Bro. Checo Yancy.
God Bless you,
Trent A. Garrett
Kairos Angola 