[These photographs show the outside of the Otter Creek Correctional Center. As you can see, it is in the middle of nowhere. These photos are courtesy of Dannah Prather, partnership editions editor of the Western Recorder.]
When we arrived and looked at the mountain of donations to be transported to Wheelright, we realized that our current van wasn't going to be big enough; even with the help of Shirley's SUV. So Ethel & Danette went online to order a midsize car and looked for the cheapest rates. With tax and other costs included, it was going to be $378. We ordered it about half an hour before we left to go pick it up from the airport. When we got there, they didn't have any of that size left, and said all that was left was a MINI-VAN, which we could have at THE SAME PRICE!!! Holey-moley! Ethel was beaming all Sunday!
Thanks to everyone who prayed for our travel. On Monday morning, when Jim Taliaferro checked the weather channel at 1:00 am (yep, we are a bunch of night owls), the report was for scattered thunderstorms. Praise God, there were no storms today. We anticipated that it would take us 4 hours to drive to Otter Creek, another hour to get through the prison entrance requirements, and be able to start the concert at 2:00 pm. It actually took us 5.5 hours to get there - so we didn't arrive until 2. Shirley came to the rescue once again as she stayed with the vehicles & boxes to get inspected while the rest of the group went through security to prepare for the concert. Gay was the first one ready, so when she stepped into the performance room, a woman approached her and asked if this was the same Olivet Baptist Church in Hawaii where Dan Kong was pastor. Once Gay shared the sad news that Pastor Kong had died, but his daughter was here - the tears started flowing. Her mother Doris was a member at Olivet and Danette even taught her sister Myra in Sunday School! There were lots of hugging and crying over the recollection of days at Olivet.
Most of those who attended today's concert were Hawaii prisoners, but about 20 of the other inmates also came. The concert started with the prison halau performing for about 20 minutes - they were awesome; performing auwana, kahiko and Tahitian numbers. Then Randy & Gay sang while Master's Touch performed. When Gay sang the Kamehameha Waltz, the Hawaii women were moved and more tears flowed. We were supposed to end by 3:30, but with such a late start, we actually went later. The staff here were so accommodating and really bent over backwards to help make this experience a positive one for everyone. Instead of passing out the cookies and some of the goodies in the main hall as originally planned, we were allowed to follow the inmates as they returned to their dorm rooms or cells for a bed check. Master's Touch was allowed to distribute the gifts in their residences. So half the group went to the dorms (led by Danette) while the other group went to the cells (led by Randy and Ethel).
We decided to make this side trip during our tour because 1) these women have so few visitors from home and 2) to let them know that people in Hawaii are praying for them. We are so glad we went - how many times did we hear ... "wow, first time we talk and someone know what we mean," and as we passed out the cookies ... "hey, plenty mahalos," and "plenty mahalos for comin." And from the non-Hawaii women, they not only thanked us, but also requested our prayers. As we were leaving the dorm, all the women stood, raised their hand in the air and snapped ... their way of clapping - it brought tears to everyone. We definitely thank our Lord for giving us this opportunity to minister and we thank the staff at Otter Creek for making this possible. And Grace - we heard a lot of, "please tell the cookie ladies thanks" - they were definitely a hit!
We will be returning to Otter Creek from 8 - 10:30 am (2-4:30 am Hawaii Time) to share with the women from Hawaii. This is when we will teach Hulihia [Transformation], written by Ilima Stern for the women and present them the pa'u skirts.
Needless to say, we were 2 hours late getting to the Wheelright Baptist Center. But they were waiting and so we were able to do a short program for them. Here we are with Pastor and Mrs. Charles Wilson. Thanks to all for your patience with us!
Blessings continued as we got lost on the way to the hotel. So we stopped on the side of the road in front of a house to ask for directions. When Danette stepped out of the van, a little boy yelled to his parents that there were a bunch of Chinese people here. The father came out - shirtless and surmised that we were lost. But he asked if we were from Hawaii since he had heard that there was a group of folks from Hawaii doing something at Otter Creek. He tried to give us directions, but we just couldn't seem to figure it out. He looked at us and then said that if we wouldn't mind waiting a minute, he'd put on his shirt and lead us there since he had to go into town to attend an AA meeting anyway. When he went to get his shirt, his son informed us that his father had just gotten out of rehab. We pray that this encounter with us will help him realize that despite his personal situation, he can still help others. We had half a package of cookies left - we won't mention who ate the other half ;-), so we left it with them as a small token of our appreciation.
Continue to pray that Tuesday will go well - a special prayer for Ethel as she will be sharing as part of the program, and that the group will return safely back to the Taliaferro's home in Louisville.
