HUNTSVILLE, Texas (ABP) — Two young men spent the day listening to music and weaving beaded bracelets, laughing and talking, seemingly nonchalant. That abruptly changed when their grandmother entered the room cursing angrily, shouting, then sobbing uncontrollably. She had witnessed the execution of her son — the father of the two young men.
“The eldest fell into my arms sobbing,” recalled Debra McCammon, executive director of Hospitality House in Huntsville, Texas, where the scene unfolded. “I began praying over him and talking to him gently as he hugged me so tightly I felt my ribs would burst. … I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man cry like that.”
Whispering in his ear, McCammon told the young man about Jesus’ love and about the peace and comfort that Christ offers. “It was one of the hardest days I’ve had.”
Hospitality House is a nonprofit ministry of the Texas Baptist Prisoner Family Ministry Foundation that provides a home away from home for families who come to Huntsville to visit loved ones behind bars. The Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger helps provide meals for the ministry.
 |
On execution days, the ministry takes on a special rhythm of its own as the Texas Department of Criminal Justice prepares to carry out capital sentence.
In advance of the day, TDCJ sends a letter to family members and others selected by the prisoner telling them to go to the Hospitality House on the execution day. The state has tried different venues as this gathering place, but the house has worked best, McCammon said.
On the execution day, the family and others arrive at the house by 9 a.m. McCammon has seen as many as 32 people come, and she has also seen days when no one comes. Whoever comes is going to be fed and cared for throughout the day, she said.
TDCJ drives up to 12 of the visitors to the Polunski Unit for a visit with the prisoner between 10 a.m. and noon. Afterward, the visitors return to the Hospitality House, where a meal has been prepared.
Not all, however, can eat. “So many are nauseated because of nerves” and don’t feel like eating, McCammon said. By about 3 p.m., most have eaten. About this same time, the prisoner arrives at the “Death House,” a separate facility of the Walls Unit where the execution will occur. It’s about two blocks from the Hospitality House.
Chaplains from TDJC have been a part of the whole day of activities, shuttling between the Hospitality House and the prison.
At 4 p.m., the visitors receive a call from the prisoner, who has one last hour to talk. “They pass the phone around” from one person to another, McCammon said. The conversations elicit a wide range of emotions from laughter to hysteria. Stories, the sharing of memories, are also a common element of the final call.
Only five people selected by the prisoner can witness the execution. They are escorted to the Walls Unit at 5 p.m. Witnesses representing the crime victims will be there as well; but they never encounter the witnesses chosen by the prisoner.
Hospitality House is a place of comfort for people whose lives have been turned upside down by the actions of a loved one.
|
The others remain at the Hospitality House. They can hear the megaphones of protesters in the streets — some for and some against capital punishment. Media vans are parked near the Walls Unit, and helicopters sometimes fly overhead.
The atmosphere in the House changes. Until the late afternoon, the day is filled with hope as the family prays and hopes for a stay of execution, McCammon said.
“That hope continues all day, but reality sets in at about 5,” she said. “You see the expressions change. They walk around with this heaviness of spirit.”
The life of their loved one is over at 6 p.m. or shortly thereafter.
Most days, of course, do not include executions. Seven days a week, the Hospitality House provides lodging and meals for families visiting inmates. The House is a place of comfort for people whose lives have been turned upside down by the actions of a loved one.
“Hospitality House is like a home,” McCammon says. “It makes it easier for families to relax. And it’s also a place where hurting people can hear the ultimate message of love, peace, hope and forgiveness of sins.”
-30-
Ferrell Foster writes for the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission.