Tales from the West Texas Dust

I was privileged over a month ago to go to an area conference of Prison Fellowship up in Amarillo. The worship music was excellent (and the free barbeque they served wasn't half bad neither!). It seems that from our media the public has an inflated picture of what prison life is like. From the "chain gangs" of old to the mass murders that have become the celebrities of our time, the topic of how prisoners live in prison has naturally been both a subject of massive speculation and intense political debate. (That in which you may have already seen if you have read our previous interviews with Randy Williamson and Chaplain Rickey Hargrave).

One thing I have tried to do here at the Suite since I've started this column is to let you meet some of the people who are in the know - the people who work in the trenches day in and day out - so that you as the reader can gain a practical insight into what goes on here in Texas No policywoks here - just ordinary people who have rolled up their sleeves and can tell you from their viewpoint what is truly going on.

Such is the case with Dr. Patricia Herman. One thing that those who have attended her training seminars for prison volunteers is that SHE LOVES TO DO USE A LOT OF VISUAL AIDS! (Note: That is an inside joke!) It seems that her background as an educator is well suited for the particular type that she now pursues. Before being recently selected as Prison Fellowship's first Area Director for the newly created West Texas region (which was formerly attached with New Mexico), she has served in various capacities for that organization as both an instructor for new prison ministry volunteers and volunteer training instructors and also as a leader of both Bible studies and special in-prison seminars. She also was a professor of education at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, TX before assuming her current duties with Prison Fellowship and is the mother of two grown children. Dr. Herman's practical experience and insight paints an interesting picture of what the effects of incarceration on both prisoners and their families are truly like. It is with that in mind that we welcome Dr. Herman as a guest to the Suite.

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