Learning to Sing in a Strange Land: When a Loved One Goes to Prison

Description: Prison is a strange land, a land of deep heartache and sadness. Over two million people are serving prison time in America. Millions more are carrying the mark of prison as those who were formerly incarcerated, including large numbers of men and women who have been released on parole. In the midst of such human misery, when loosened tongues are freed to sing of God's redemptive love, grief is diminished and the prison loses its power. Endorsements: Prison in our society is just another word for abandonment and loneliness. But Wes and Marilyn Stevens refused to abandon their daughter when she went to prison. In this poignant and profound book, we are allowed to witness how the Psalms shaped their lives and their daughter's life as they learned to overcome the loneliness of being separated by prison. Hopefully, this book will be read, not only by those who have experienced what the Stevens family had to endure, but by anyone who wants to see the power of the Psalms for our lives. --Stanley Hauerwas Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics Duke Divinity School I can recommend Wesley Steven's book, Learning to Sing in a Strange Land: When a Loved One Goes to Prison, without any reservations. Wes Stevens speaks out of his agonizing experience with the imprisonment of his loved one. The book walks the reader through a father's experience with this strange land of dark shadows and broken hearts. This book will resonate with families who have gone through this difficult time, as well as provide help for those who try to rebuild their broken lives with hope and heroism. For those who have never experienced such sorrow it makes valuable reading, so that we can begin to understand what such sadness must mean. Reading this book will be a modern experience of how Paul and Silas sang at midnight in the Philippian jail. It will remind us that in this darkest place on earth, some hope can be found. --Richard L. Morgan Associate for Pastoral Care New Hope Presbyterian Church, North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania Wesley Stevens writes this book from his heart, drawing from deep personal experience, to immerse us all in the tragedy of our prison system--providing clues as to what we might do. --W. Paul Jones Emeritus Professor of Philosophical Theology Saint Paul School of Theology Wesley Stevens has written an important book that is very helpful to families in dealing with the many challenges associated with a loved one's incarceration. This spiritual approach is invaluable to the struggles our families go through, and I heartily recommend it to them. This is a much-needed contribution to this difficult issue for our families in Texas. --Joan G. Burnham Former Executive Director Texas Inmate Families Association Wesley Stevens is an inspiration to me and to everyone who knows him. He is one of the most compassionate persons I have ever known. Readers will see and feel this as they read his eloquent words in this much needed book. Gracious, kind, thoughtful, caring, merciful, conscientious, committed . . . Wesley Stevens is all of those and much, much more, and that will come across loud and clear in Learning to Sing in a Strange Land: When a Loved One Goes to Prison. --Jim Moore Minister in Residence Highland Park United Methodist Church, Dallas, Texas About the Contributor(s): Wesley Stevens is a retired United Methodist minister who served for twenty-seven years as the Administrator of Holly Hall, a Christian Retirement Community in Houston, Texas. Since 1998, he and his wife, Marilyn, have coordinated a volunteer weekend ministry to family members and friends who visit loved ones at the three prisons near Dayton, Texas.…