I was interviewed recently by a local news station about being a new Calvin student in prison. Nervousness and anxiety rushed over me while waiting for the interview to start. 

I was sitting in the plastic blue chair in the prisoner visiting room. The camera crew set up the bright camera lights and introduced themselves to me. They were all friendly and shook my hand. You don’t have much human contact in prison. A handshake means something to me. It means I am seen as a human being. The reporter placed the microphone on my shirt and then sat across from me. I said a silent prayer to calm my nerves. The prayer was short and to the point: “Jesus help.” 

When the interview began, my nervousness faded and the words came spilling out. I gave thought to each response and remembered some key points from Professor Mattson’s Oral Rhetoric class. 

In the interview, the reporter asked me if I was proud of what I have been able to accomplish in prison. I was reluctant to say yes, so I said that my mother is proud of me. He pressed on, like any good reporter would, and asked me if I was proud of myself. I responded that yes, yes, I was. Thoughts of struggles and my journey came flooding into my mind, followed by peace and a sense of warmth.

The interview was not just focused on me talking about Calvin; 90% of the story would be about Calvin, but that other 10%? That was about me.

This interview was also a redemption story. That was between the lines, in things people couldn’t see. When watching the news report I interviewed for that aired in Dec. 11, one wouldn’t know that 11 years prior, that same reporter reported on a horrible tragedy in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This tragedy sent me on this course, which brought me through the judicial system, into the prison system, and, through hard work and faith, on a journey of Christian higher education through Calvin University. Redeeming shalom is what we are taught in our CORE:100 course. After a conversation with the reporter, my feeling was that this interview was a way to bring about shalom for him too.

Afterwards, the reporter told me that this story about Calvin would not have happened without me. We sometimes don’t know the influence or impact we have on others. We forget at times about the power of the Holy Spirit. We as Christians can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us. I serve the God of the impossible.