Two fridays ago Irie and I took the three youngest members of our youth group to the Raleigh Catholic Worker House. The house is run by Sheila Stumph and her husband Scott Langley. They are living out their faith in very radical ways.
After living in a Catholic Worker house in Boston they decided they were being called by God to serve people on death row and their families. They loaded everything they owned in the back of Scott's pickup and headed to Raleigh - just beyond the walls of the North Carolina Central Prison. In the spirit of Christian hospitality Scott and Sheila have opened their homes to any families visiting prisoners and death row. They have also opened something of an unofficial after-school hangout place to the dozens of kids in the neighborhood.
I have to admit this was not your typical lockin. No spaghetti up the nose. Instead the girls heard the compelling story of a family seeking to live humbly and faithfully in the call of Christian discipleship and ministry. Sheila also gave us the privelege of taking part in that ministry by writing cards to some of the inmates on death row. All this while sitting around a table full of eight, nine and ten-year olds who have nothing better to do than come and help Sheila out with cards - in exchange for cookies of course. What else could be better anyway?
