Breaking the Chains

'Biker' ministry brings hope and healing to local inmates by Nancy Voris
Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal.

    George Whirley was at the Indiana State Farm in Putnamville in 1989, serving time for drug dealing, when he heard about a prison ministry taking place.

    "I thought I would go and make fun of them," he remembers, picturing tentative, mild-mannered men in suits leading sweet choruses for the hardened criminals.

    What he found instead were long-haired, tattooed bikers with red bandanas tied around their heads. Grizzly, rough around the edges. Guys like, well, like Whirley himself.

    "I remember thinking, `What are they doing here? There's nothing here to steal,'" he says.
 But what came out of their mouths was not the foul language one might expect, but words of love, forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ.

    Whirley was saved that weekend by his first encounter with Unchained Ministries, known in biker circles as the Unchained Gang. He knew then that God was calling him.

    "I believe God leads you to a ministry," he says. "I was part of the Lazarus generation. I was dead to life, and he called me out."

    Whirley moved five years ago to Greenwood, where he operates N&S Tree Service. He and his wife, Vera, now married six years, have six children in their blended family.

    Whirley, known in the bikers' circles as "Midget," has changed little in appearance. The earrings are still there. So are the long hair, faded jeans and boots. But check the message on the T-shirts, and you'll see a change of attitude. The message "Life is tough. Pray hard" adorns a shirt picturing jeans with worn-out knees. Another shirt carries the message, "Jesus saves bikers, too."

    In 1994 he introduced Unchained Ministries to the Johnson County jail, offering a praise service for the men and women on Sunday nights.

    `Someone like George'

Meanwhile, Meg Eck of Trafalgar had been faithfully praying for years for her husband, 48-year-old Mike, whose drug habit had pervaded most of their adult life.

    One Sunday Whirley was scheduled to be a guest speaker at Meg's church. As the drug and alcohol coordinator for Johnson County Community Corrections, she was well aware of his impact on men with a similar background. She prayed and fasted, then described Whirley's ministry to Mike and encouraged him to attend the service with her. He shrugged it off and refused.

    But at church on Sunday, as Meg was talking with friends before the service, she looked up to see Mike's tall frame fill the doorway.

    Whirley's testimony that day made an instant believer of Mike.
    "George really influenced him by his appearance," Meg remembers. "Mike said, `If God could love someone like George Whirley, then he could love me.'

    "If it weren't for George and the way he appears, these men wouldn't know Jesus. George reaches them by simply walking into a room. He's not at all judgmental. A lot of them have been hurt by churches where they have been judged."

    Mike committed his life to Christ, and he joined Whirley in Unchained Ministries.
    Reuniting families
    Another door opened for the ministry with the opening of the county's work-release center in January. The center houses non-violent prisoners serving alternative sentences that allow them to hold full-time jobs and return to the center at night.

    Executive Director Deana McMurray knew of Whirley's ministry at the jail, and the two worked together to set up a Tuesday night Bible study at the center.

    Prisoners at the center were not allowed visitation with family members under age 16, but a Friday night service held in a classroom was opened to the entire family. Whirley and Mike Eck knew some men were attending just to see their children.

    "But even if they come to see the kids, they're getting the word of God," Whirley says.
    "We're trying to reunite these families. Satan tore them up. The man's in jail; the wife's upset. Some were in the process of a divorce. We're putting them back together."

    Three-fold ministry
    By April, the Friday night service had outgrown the classroom at the center.
    McMurray concluded that with Meg Eck representing Community Corrections, and with thorough checks, the ministry could move to a nearby sponsoring church.

    Franklin Assembly of God, within walking distance, was a logical choice. But the church at first was hesitant to open its door to prisoners.

    Through prayer, and with the persistence of members like Wade and Lesha Lederman and her parents, Dick and Barbara Garrett, the church offered its fellowship hall and kitchen on Friday nights.

    "The church said no. But God changed them through Wade and Lesha and Dick and Barbara," Mike Eck said, adding that the church's hospitality is appreciated by both the ministry and the families in attendance.

    Inmates are released at 7:55 p.m. to walk to the church and are due back at 9:10 p.m. The Ecks double-check a sign-in sheet, which is delivered to the work-release center that night to recheck.

    Southwood Assembly of God in Greenwood, the home church of the Whirleys and the Ecks, also assists Unchained Ministries in helping the men and their families.

    Gifts from Daddy
    The Friday night service on Nov. 13 was busier than usual, with an air of expectancy.
    As inmates and guests entered, all registered in the guest book and, if it was their first visit, Mike Eck took a snapshot for the program's photo album.

    Jolene Baker, Barbie Thomas and Carolyn Slaughter were set up in a classroom, registering children of jail inmates and work-release participants for the "Jesus Birthday Fund." The children's clothing sizes and ages were recorded, and a family photo was taken. The photos and information will be available at Southwood Assembly, and church members will purchase gifts for the children.

    The gifts, however, will have the parents' names on the cards when they are delivered the day before Christmas. Forty-three children came to sign up.

    Wade Lederman led group singing, followed by a devotion by Mike Eck from the book of Matthew on adopting the innocence of little children. One contribution Eck makes to the ministry is providing the children with children's Bibles, religious coloring books and "What Would Jesus Do" bracelets.

    Whirley then delivered a message, which was followed by prayer within individual family groups.
    The evening always ends with snacks, served by the Ledermans and Garretts, and about 20 minutes for families to visit. Next week, a simple Thanksgiving dinner will be served.

    Changed lives
    Tom, a work-release participant who asked that his last name not be used, attended Unchained Ministries services when he was in jail last September and after he was moved to the work-release center.

    Now released, Tom still returns to the Friday services, hoping to "repay my debt to society."
    "It helps keep me straight," he says. "There are other things I used to do on Friday night that weren't so good."
    Mike Asher felt a conviction to seek a better life, and he turned himself in for dealing drugs.
    "Looking back, I know it was God who led me to it," he says.
    Now at the work-release center, Asher was invited, because of his good behavior, to serve on the center's advisory board. Through the board's efforts, the center opened the door this week to allow child visitation.

    Holding his young daughter, Asher talks of his release in a few weeks and says he'll stay with the ministry and return on Friday nights.

    "We're trying to make a difference," he says. "I thank God for this service."
    Meg Eck also sees the fruits of the ministry.
    "I am so excited," she says. "There are so many positive and good things happening. Marriages are being saved that were on the brink of divorce. If we don't bridge the gap between husband and wife, when they get out, there is no bond."

    On the road again
    The ministry doesn't begin or end in Johnson County.
    Unchained Ministries was founded in 1958 by a youth minister seeking ways to continue ministering to members of his youth group who got in trouble and went to jail.

    Whenever possible, the Whirleys and the Ecks join the Unchained Gang at bike rallies all over Indiana, offering a friendly, positive influence. The gang's colors are black, red and white -- black symbolizing sin; red, the cleansing blood of Jesus; and white, the purity of sins washed away.

    At the Bean Blossom Boogie, a weekend gathering of bikers, they set up a tent with free water and juice. Recently, they participated in rallies to benefit Riley Hospital for Children and Toys for Children.

    Some of the secular rallies attract the familiar, rowdy bunch of bikers.
    When the drinking and carousing start, Mike Eck -- the epitome of a biblical figure with his long hair and flowing beard -- silently carries a rough-hewn cross, crafted by Whirley, through the crowd. A silence usually falls, and others with the ministry pass out Bible tracts and witness to anyone who will listen.

    "We try not to butt in," Meg Eck explains. "We just try to be a positive presence."
    Ministry recognized
    On Wednesday evening, Whirley and Mike Eck were honored with the state Volunteer Award by the Indiana Community Corrections Association at the Omni Hotel in Indianapolis.

    They even dressed up a little to receive their award.
    But Whirley, who has seen thousands give their lives to the Lord through Unchained Ministries, wasn't too impressed.

    "What matters is that Jesus Christ is glorified. I want people to know that he loves them."
    For more information on Unchained Ministries, call 881-3556, 878-5988 or Community Corrections at 736-3760.