The loneliness of a prisoner...

Yesterday, I went to a court date of one of the guys who lives here in John DeShields. I took a couple of his friends, the Mother of his baby and his baby. He has been charged with a murder that happened here a little under a year ago. In my heart, I believe he's innocent, but I can't say that I know for sure. We waited there for 40 minutes for him to come out. When it was finally time, the bailiff came out and said that there wasn't going to be a court date and that his trial will be in October. The mother of his child asked if he could at least come out to see his baby. They said yes, but only for 2 minutes and he couldn't touch the baby. When he came walking out, my heart broke for him, because he didn't look like the same guy I always saw with a smile on his face. He was in a jail suit and his ankles were shackled. He sat down to talk to us and I just began to cry because it seemed so hopeless for him to even have a fair trial. It will cost $8,000.00 up front for the lawyer to take his case and then there would be a payment plan after the case. I know that none of his family members or friends have that kind of money. So, I'm going to look into pro-bono lawyers and see what I can find. In those few moments of listening to him speak, God planted a burden in my heart for prisoners. I can't imagine the loneliness they must feel. I pray that God will use me to make JESUS real to prisoners that I come to know.