1983_03 Insight March 1983

              InsiglU
CENTERPIECE
March 2. IMS 5
Knight fights
"spiritual war"
in Fresno jail
MONTE RICE
Insight reporter
In a labyrinth of clanging steel
bars, cold cement with too strong a
smell of ammonia and dimly—lit jail
cells, Russell Knight ministers to his
congregation.
''Where you attend church Rev?"
shouts an inmate to the chaplain.
In a rather boisterous manner one
Sunday afternoon. Knight replied,
"This is my church."
With methodical care, after some
30 years of ministry at tbe Fresno
County Jail, 60-year-old Knight still
makes a daily tour up and down each
floor, jotting down phones calls for the
inmates, distributing stamps and
razors and offering a listening ear to
tbe concerns of inmates.
Each week Knight and assisting
church laymen face more than 1,100
inmates in the jail, who usually share
rooms with a single toilet and 20 or
more prisoners to each cell. Privacy
and silence are non-existent in the
jail, save for the more violent
prisoners locked up alone In "rubber
rooms" down in the basement.
and requesting eye glasses for them.
Today Knight's work, which also
includes hospital visitation, is supported through Valley Missions Inc., a
non-profit Christian organization
which provides ministry in jails and
hospitals throughout tbe valley.
Knight's jail office, which is
nothing more than a "bole in the
wall," is located inconspicuously
among the cells in the jail. Inside,
hundreds of Spanish and English
Bibles, tracts, and literature are
stacked on shelves and freely used by
lay counselors who regulary visit the
jail.
Several times a week Knight is
assisted by white, Spanish, and black
lay counselors who corporatery meet
for prayer before visiting the inamtes.
Knight stresses tbe need for consistency among tbe counselors; Irregular attendance leaves a poor feeling among tbe inmates.
Knight always emphasizes to
counselors "this is no Sunday school
picnic, but a place of security." While
20 men are gathered around Knight in
the sheriff's garage, Knight holds up
an ink pen and says, "This is no pen;
this is ad
Reverend Russell Knight-Joins hands In prayer with an inmate daring his   Knight is often surprised at the n
rounds of the cell blocks of the men's section of the Fresno County Jail. Knight   while In jail,
often stops to converse with the Inmates, many of whom he knows by n	
of people who come to know Christ
Photos by JEFF KRAUSE
Reverend Knight closes tbe security gate to a cell Mock. Knight has free access
to the jail sections with aa assortment of keys which hang from bis belt.
"Tbe last two or three years I've
seen a tremendous difference in oar
acceptance here," said Knight, recalling earner years filled with verbal
abuse from tbe inmates and food and
water thrown at him from the cells.
Knight said that today, "God Is
definitely moving in the prisons and
many are being won to Christ" Now
tbey say to me, 'Please talk to us
about tbe Lord; please give us
literature to read."
Knight mentioned two reasons
why inmates are showing a greater
spiritual hunger today. First, Knight
said, "There is somebody in almost
everyone's life here that Is praying for
the  inmates—and God answers
Knight's ministry he said. "They're
asking a lot about world conditions;
they're bothered at what's happening
in the world today."
Knight, who says he's been busy
sharing his faith throughout his life,
became involved with jail ministry in
1844 when an army chaplain's wife
asked for his help in visiting Wyoming
jails.
Later, between 1946 and the early
1960's,  county  officials and some
When asked for a pelage stomp. Knight only gives tbe Inmate some skin, as   the week. Knight provide, paper aad pencil* to Inmates and tries ta make the   *Vfi[   *■" /*£]*■ ," £
Ktilght knows that each prisoner will be allowed to mall two letters St tbe flrst of   prisoners stay as pleasant as possible in the overcrowded facility. *««»  Oettiop  e   ministry   to   the
Fresno County jail which would also
"" keep up with tbe day—to—day needs
Knight also emphasizes tbe
"spiritual war" waged in his
ministry. "Much prayer goes on to
this work," Knight said. Counselors
sometimes experience anxieties and
sickness after working In the jail
because of a lack of prayer," Knight
said.
Sometimes, officers face Inmates
filled with such violent and erratic
behavior, they "recognize the
possibility of evil spirits and ask for
our help." Knight recalled several instances during his ministry when inmates were "delivered of demonic
possession."
Knight said skeptic officers
sometimes ask, "Why do you come
here so much"' After having seen
lives changed, Knight said many officers "come to Christ over tha
years."
Knight recalled one prisoner, who
after becoming a Oiristian (presently
serving a term in prison), stopped his
swearing and other habits and began
sharing his new found faith with other
inmates.
"His attorney asked me, 'What in
the world has happened to him? He's
totally different,'" Knight said. Tbey
are okay and tbe people in here have
got the problems."
"But lives are changed here,"
said Knight. "And God is working not
only in the lives of inmates but to tha
lives of officers, families and at-