Dear Darwin and Laura:

I send a newsletter I write every few weeks. It is a personal perspective of the news. I also still write poetry. Actually, keeping up on world events is not quite as easy as having the internet, but my parents send news from the net and I listen to news programs on a radio I purchased.

I receive church literature from different groups and I was able to keep the 2nd Passover. Even if I wasn't permitted wine and unleavened bread, I know God honored what took place.

I am in a closed maximum facility and this place is more of a mental institution than a prison. The younger guys in here have done who knows what and the maturity level is about 3^rd grade. Seventy-five percent of inmates don't have a GED and blacks outnumber whites by 3 to 1. Actually the Great Tribulation is the future for most of the people in here. There are 2,200 inmates, but it was built for 1,100.

You will have to excuse mistakes made. I haven't quite figured out how to correct mistakes (on a typewriter) if I miss correcting them on the small screen provided. There are a number of features offered for a typewriter.

Unfortunately as much as we try to get typos out of the newsletter, it never quite happens and we use a computer which as you know works far better than a typewriter. Also when we scan things in such as this letter, I noticed our spell checker doesn’t always highlight scanned material so we can correct it. So if you had any spelling errors/typos we may not have caught them all either. We all just do the very best that we can.

Richard Markland writes:

The prison is headed for a crash. With the illegal immigration bill that our playful politicians are endorsing, the prisons are going to pop. Ohio already spends $2 billion a year on inept prisons and the state is bursting at the seams. There are a lot of payoffs and it's totally corrupt. I can't even begin to tell you the graft and atrocious liberty that the judicial system, prison and state officials have. Each inmate is worth $50,000. They love repeat offenders because when they are rearrested, the state pays out another $50,000. This is the initial cost and every year the money just keeps coming in for those already in. I am worth a lot of money.

I would feel hopeless and kill myself if it wasn't for God's truth. It's priceless in a hell hole like this. Homosexuality is everywhere and drugs are easily available. Every morning I wake up, I look out the window and thank God that it is one more day closer to His kingdom. It keeps me going. Letters from brethren keep me going as well. I have a cassette and CD player and so I can listen to sermon tapes. It is a real blessing.

Richard, please know that the people of God need you. You are one of the best writers I have run across since we started printing this newsletter in January of 2001. You have a natural way of making the words dance across the page with little effort. You are a strong writer, not afraid to speak out, and we wish that more of God’s people were of the caliber of courage that it takes to speak out even if it means something bad may happen to them or that someone may not like them for what they speak.

Feel free to put my address in your newsletter if people would like to write. I'm not embarrassed about being in here. I am getting a foretaste of what the coming persecution will be like. I am not bitter, but learning from this experience. No proof was needed to put me in here and it was a kangaroo court with all the trimmings.

Richard Markland’s address is: Richard Markland #538948, LECI, PO Box 56, Lebanon, OH 45036. We get a lot of email and snail mail letters in here, so it sometimes takes us awhile to answer them all and some we share with our readership.

Richard Markland writes:

Seven hundred inmates are in for murder. Eighty-five percent of inmates have crimes as a result of drug or alcohol related offenses. It is a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah. God has definitely protected me from harm. My life was threatened once by a group of inmates, but God intervened. He is always with us and we can hold Him to His promise of protection.

I have filed an appeal, but don't think much about it. I may be turned down, and if I am, I'll appeal to a higher court. Different inmates have thought I'm crazy for not taking a plea bargain, but I had to stand up to the system. It was what I had to do without the fear of what the system would do.

The food here is really bad and I've been sick with a head cold for the past 5 days. They serve too many starches and the water has lime deposits in it. I try to bring back fruit to my cell when they have it, but they don't serve it regularly. The guards don't mind if you do. I now know what they have done with the recalled dog food. We had it in our burritos last night and I ate soups I purchased from commissary instead of having to force it down.

I may have lost everything, but they can't take away God's spirit. I'm able to keep the Sabbath and Holy Days. I've been alone in my cell for about 3 weeks and I will get a new cell mate within a few days. An older inmate with 6 kids is suppose to move in within a week. He’s a nice guy and settled down.

Thanks for putting up with my mistakes (typos). I’ve tried to catch as many as I can, but they slip by. Once I understand the features (on the typewriter), I’ll be able to eliminate errors.

Please take care and thanks for the service you provide. I look forward to your newsletter. Take care, Richard

Everyone, please remember Richard Markland in your prayers.