Angola

"A Weekend on The Row." (At Angola) What a life changing experience as we spent a weekend in old death row cells and served the men of Angola State Prison in rural Louisiana... An old plantation prison, once known as the bloodiest prison in the world, Angola sits on 18,000 acres of farm land bordered by the Mississippi river. The largest prison in the U.S. Angola houses over 6,300 inmates, almost 5000 of whom will live the rest of their natural lives there. One death row inmate asked me why I was there, and I honestly told him that while I could not relate to being on death row, that I did remember what loneliness felt like, and if I was there I would want someone to visit me... I met an old man named Samuel at Angola who had been incarcerated for over 50 years (longer than I have been alive). He has spent over 30 of those as an elder for the church at Angola. I asked him if he would mentor a fool like me. His eyes filled with tears and he said yes, and would I be willing to write him-- I said that I would be honored. I need wise men like Samuel in my life, and I will sit at his feet and learn from him... More to come from my "Field of Dreams." I will never be the same.