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Joint Lecture Report, MCI Norfolk prison
March 2019
Dear church friends in Natick, Wellesley, Concord, and at the Joint Committee for Institutional Services in Massachusetts,
The lecture at MCI Norfolk men’s prison on Saturday, Feb.3, was very successful! About 75 men came to hear practitioner and teacher Leide Lessa speak on the subject, “Making Right Decisions.” The atmosphere was one of joy, listening, sharing, and heartfelt appreciation expressed by the inmates. The prison administration could not have been more helpful and supportive.
All the paperback Science and Healths were taken, in both English and Spanish, much of the literature, and many had signed up for the Tuesday night meetings. Our attendance at the weekly CS meetings has improved.
The volunteers who attended were Laura Clayton and Cindy Cummings (both from Needham church) and John Friborg (Concord). As you know, this was a joint lecture with financial contributions from Natick, Wellesley, Concord, and the Joint Committee for Institutional Services in Massachusetts. We had a “Zoom” conference call preparatory meeting the week before – with Ms. Lessa conducting the phone-in broadcast from her home in Quincy.
The moment we walked into the lecture auditorium, we were treated as “honored” guests, with inmates checking our coats, offering us hot tea, and introducing themselves. This was a big deal! One of our regular inmate attendees had printed out colorful programs, made posters, and set up a large display of books and literature. He introduced Ms. Lessa and organized all the music for the prelude.
Leide spoke in both English and Spanish for almost two hours. She is very experienced with this type of audience, and her presentation was warm, interactive, and tenderly mothering. Several men told us how much they enjoyed the music as well, as it set the tone of comfort and harmony. (We had arranged to perform hymns before the talk began, with piano and violin, with some of the inmates singing along on stage.)
Ms. Lessa spoke about our inherent spiritual sense, how we can listen to God for right decisions, and about our spiritual identity – with many, many Biblical examples. Our volunteer, John, from the Concord church had this to say: “I was struck by the willingness of a number of the men to share their deep feelings afterward about their renewed spiritual journeys, and also I was reminded how many are burdened by feelings of being ‘undeserving’ of God’s love.” This point, that everyone deserves God’s love, was strong emphasized by Ms. Lessa throughout the talk.
Here is what she recalled later:
“Many inmates talked to me before and after the lecture, expressing their gratitude and asking for prayers. While I was greeting the inmates before the lecture started, one gentleman came to me and said, ‘Did you use to go to Suffolk County Jail years ago?’ [downtown Boston] I said Yes. He then asked, ‘Do you remember me, from the year 2000?’ I said, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t. I saw more than 500 inmates during the time I was there.’ Then he said, ‘When I heard about this lecture, I went to my things, and I found your name on an old card. Are you still on 175 Huntington Ave?’ [That was The Mother Church address I gave out at the time, since we are not allowed to share personal information.] He said, ‘You can’t imagine how much you helped me during that especially difficult time. Then, suddenly I remembered him! It was Oscar! I recalled that we had worked several months together and that he seemed so filled with remorse, sadness, and shame. … I always wondered what had happened to him and often would include him in my prayers. Now he looked so different! He told me how he’s a completely changed man -- he is healthy and active, and he said he would try to come to the CS meetings.”
Leide continues: “We also had a variety of cultures represented, US, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Equador, México, and Brazil. At the end, many asked me when the next talk would be. They told me how much the message touched their hearts. A few African Americans were also ‘impressed’ that I admitted that I am also of African descendent [she is from Brazil]. They said that some people often do not want to mention that. But that was an opportunity to share what CS teaches -- that we are all equal and that the Bible says we should have no respect of persons. God sees us and loves us equally and unconditionally.”
Again, many thanks to Ms. Lessa – and to all of you who supported this event prayerfully. In a prison, sometimes things can get interrupted or cancelled suddenly if there is any kind of disturbance among the population. This did not happen. Love opened the way and “to the poor” the gospel was preached. (Mis. 171:18)
Respectfully submitted,
Laura Clayton
Lecture coordinator
Needham church Institutional Committee
