Steve Achord
Kansas-Nebraska convention
Sitting behind the wheel of his aging car, Mike Crowell headed
south out of Kentucky toward the Gulf of Mexico.
The United States was a month away from celebrating its bicentennial,
and Crowell was heading toward the bayous and swamps of Louisiana in hopes of
making enough money in the booming oil industry to return to college in September.
Sitting behind the wheel of his aging car, Mike Crowell headed
south out of Kentucky toward the Gulf of Mexico.
The United States was a month away from celebrating its bicentennial,
and Crowell was heading toward the bayous and swamps of Louisiana in hopes of
making enough money in the booming oil industry to return to college in September.
With his freshman year from the University of Kentucky behind
him, Crowell hoped a friends advice about high-paying jobs on an offshore
oil derrick would be correct, and he could return home with his pockets full
of cash and exciting stories to tell his college friends.
However, Crowell would return home with something else.
The teenager landed in Houma and began his search for a summer
job. The summer did not start out well as Crowell found himself sleeping in
a filthy, run-down rooming house with other oilfield workers. For two weeks,
he could find only the worst-of-the-worst possibilities, taking day labor, roustabout
jobs whenever he could.
Then, he was given the name of Al Nichols, a man who had some
hiring pull for one of the major oil companies.
Crowell visited Nichols and told him of his struggle to find
a good job. Nichols was sympathetic and called someone.
Within minutes, Crowell was traveling further south along Bayou
Lafourche toward a better job.
His sleeping quarters improved as well as his employment. He
found a hotel room above a bar in Larose, and each morning, he boarded a helicopter
to fly to a platform in the Gulf of Mexico to work. Days became routine, and
the money Crowell had hoped for began filling his pockets. Still, something
was missing in his life.
One Sunday evening, out of loneliness and boredom, Mike decided
to take a drive.
Traveling south out of Larose, he wound up in Golden Meadow,
a sleepy fishing community where most people spoke French rather than English
in the mid-1970s. A sign advertising First Baptist Church of Golden Meadow caught
his eye, and before he knew it, Crowell was turning into the church parking
lot.
Standing behind the pulpit was Claude Fontenot, delivering
a sermon in French. Crowell recalls thinking he was in another country, another
world perhaps.
Soon, a second service began, this time with Fontenot speaking
to the congregation in English. Crowell stayed.
One Sunday night visit turned into another for Crowell. That
led to a relationship with Fontenot, who personally shared the plan of salvation
with Crowell during the summer. As Fontenot shared Christ, the members of the
church showed love to the young college student and accepted him as one of their
own.
The summer ended, and Crowell returned to college in Kentucky.
However, a few weeks passed, and he knew he needed to make another decision.
The words of Fontenot had made sense, and Crowell was convicted and knew he
needed personally to ask Jesus into his heart. Finding a local pastor, Crowell
prayed to receive Christ and began a new life.
“God used everyone, including Bro. Fontenot, to point
me to Christ,” he says.
Crowell immediately joined Campus Crusade for Christ and began
telling others about the new joy he had found in Jesus. Only a short time passed
before he made a phone call back to South Louisiana to tell his new friends
about accepting Christ.
Indeed, not only did he call Claude Fontenot, but he also tracked
down Al Nichols to tell him the story.
After catching Nichols up on his life, Crowell wanted to thank
the man who helped him get a fresh start. “You helped me find a job that
helped me find Jesus Christ,” Crowell told Nichols.
With a voice full of emotion, Nichols profusely thanked Crowell
for his phone call. “You could not have said anything better than those
words to me,” the oilfield supervisor and Sunday School teacher explained
to Crowell.
Upon accepting Christ, Crowell says he knew he needed to be
serving his Lord in a full-time vocation. A college degree and a Southwestern
Baptist Theological Seminary degree followed, and Crowell found himself in a
role as a federal prison chaplain. This experience led him to his present position
as lead chaplain at the United States penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan.
As a chaplain in the federal bureau of prisons, Crowell ministers
to inmates and to staff. That role means he must have knowledge of the 14 different
religious groups that exist within the walls of the penitentiary.
Once a week, Crowell leads a Bible study. He also conducts
religious services in the prison chapel. Considering there are 1,650 inmates
in the main prison, 450 in a satellite camp and 600 staff workers, there are
a lot of spiritual needs behind the razor wire and century-old brick walls.
“The context is abnormal because you see the worst in
humanity here,” the Southern Baptist-endorsed chaplain says of his workplace.
“In here, it is not hard to see the depravity of humanity.”
Still, the men who are sentenced for committing horrible crimes
are in need of a savior. Crowell says he wants to show the men there is freedom
from their sins.
“Grace is a strong message here. It is self-evident they
have sinned, and grace is very pertinent,” he explains. “It is a dark
spiritual atmosphere, because many are such hardened criminals.”
The average sentence is 35 years, which gives Mike an opportunity
to get to know the men, so they can hear the gospel. But for many, Leavenworth
is not their first prison experience. Likewise, most have heard the gospel at
some time in their lives.
“Many have heard the gospel, but they are hardened by
choices, hardened by life and hardened by sin,” Crowell says. “So,
that is the uniqueness of this place.”
The diversity in religion represented by inmates and workers
does not mean Crowell has to downplay Christ or the gospel.
“You must maintain your call,” the Southern Baptist
chaplain says. “I maintain the light of the gospel in the midst of a lot
of spiritual challenges and darkness.”
Like most prisons, there is no doubt Leavenworth can be dangerous
and intimidating. However, it also can be rewarding for a man who feels a special
calling into the unique setting, Crowell explains.
“They (the inmates) are so hardened by deceitfulness
of sin and have been under the influence of sin for so long,” he says.
“People have their guard up, even in worship. But I am encouraged when
I hear someone say, I read the Bible you gave me. ”
Despite the harsh words he is called sometimes as he walks
down one of the tiers in the prison, Crowell says he also is encouraged when
an inmate takes a stand for Christ and says he is a Christian.
“Jesus came to set the captive free, maybe not from the
penitentiary, but true freedom takes place when someone comes to know him as
Lord,” he says.
“Jesus did not just go to the righteous, he went to people
most hopeless and in deepest darkness.”
From the young college student searching for a job in South
Louisiana to the inmates serving a life sentence for murder, Crowell says he
realizes people everywhere are in darkness – and he says he wants to make
sure to be there to share the story of grace found in Jesus Christ with them.