On March 2006 I was sitting in the prison in Orlando wondering if God was calling me to continue coming to this prison or move on. My guys told me that they really wanted me to continue coming and bringing them the word of God. God gave me John to help on Wed. so I was freed up to do something else. John is an incredible teacher for these men so what do I do now?  They liked the Christmas play that I wrote and suggested that we do plays. Someone told us that a monthly play in a reception center was impossible. With that challenge and God on our side we started the Palanka Players. I saw too many guys walking by the chapel and not coming in. Being the evangelist that God called  me to be I saw a need. The word palanka is a Greek word for 'lever'. If you have an object that you cannot move, you use a lever to lift it up. We had people that needed the word of God so we are the lever that God uses to lift up His word. I recieved the approval from the chaplains and the prison staff so off we went.

     We started with a handful of guys and today we have over 20 members on our team. The men that are residents there write and direct all of the plays. We meet twice a week and on the last Wed. we put on our play. I make the posters, tickets, DVD transitions and do all the leg work but they make the play happen. The miracle is that the men, that hardly got along before, are now  respectful and polite to each other. I am so excited about what God has done in this prison. I have seen boys become men right before my eyes. They are responsible to the word of God. They behave outside the chapel as they do on the inside. I am proud to call these men my friends. They have shown me that God is still in the healing business. On the day of the play we prepare the chapel, I pass out the tickets inviting the rest of the men on the compound personally and pray that God will use us in a mighty way. He always does. The magic of the play is that the last scene the audience is always part of the play. Since March of 2006 we have only skipped once when I was in PR. Many men have started a relationship with Jesus because of the plays. This shows them that they can be used while they are in prison and it can start today. I tell them that there was a reason behind God using Paul  writing 4.5 books in the New Testement.  We have seen many men come to know Jesus Christ as their personnel Savior becaue of the plays. They sometime stay at this prison and become a Palanka Player. This experience helps to shape these men to leave  prison and become part of the solution that we need in our world. Many of the men and women in prison will leave one day. Question is this:

DO YOU WANT THEM TO LEAVE PRISON AND MOVE NEXT DOOR TO YOU LIKE THEY WERE OR WOULD RATHER HAVE  A GODLY MAN LIVING NEXT TO YOU?