From Guest writer: Linda Whittlesey, OBE volunteer.
I’ll never forget the day I went to the Opening Blind Eyes mail box and picked up an envelope that bore this stamp in its corner:
I was unprepared for my encounter with mail from a prison inmate.
As startling as the envelope’s message was, I was even more startled when I opened the envelope. It contained a check for $50.00, payable to Opening Blind Eyes drawn on the inmate trust account at WSR. It was humbling and affirming. To an inmate $50.00 is equivalent to an entire month’s pay. That illustrated to us just how deeply impacting Rip’s ministry at WSR is.
In the past year, inmate envelopes arrived with other enclosures, which were just as affirming as the checks. They were personal letters to Rip (which I don’t read) from two inmates who have been transferred out of WSR—one to Coyote Ridge (near Yakima), the other to Clallam Bay (on the Olympic Peninsula).
The devastating murder of a corrections officer last year at WSR impacted the entire state prison system. The DOC has transferred many inmates away to other institutions. Many of the Christian leaders at WSR were in this group, leaving a void at WSR. But when Rip receives letters from these men he can no longer see in person, he realizes how impactful his ministry among them has been—and continues to be.
We’ve told you in previous newsletters about the inmates who have been transferred into WSR filling OBE’s worship services on Sundays, giving Rip access into the lives of even more inmates.
God’s plans are not thwarted. He is using OBE to fill a unique spiritual void at WSR. Won’t you help us on this exciting journey?