INSPIRING STORY OF THE WEEK – FROM DUNGEON TO DIGNITY
INSPIRING STORY OF THE WEEK
FROM DUNGEON TO DIGNITY
by Ray Tapia
First let me introduce you to Ray and Nida Tapia. Beautiful couple, parents of four grown children and ten grandchildren. Pillars of their church and community. Boring story? Not quite! You are about to read a most inspiring story.
If you met Ray when he was a teenager, you probably would have predicted that his life was doomed. At seventeen he was serving time in the Colorado State reformatory for armed robbery. Although he was paroled after eight months, he was hardly reformed. Lawlessness was now his way of life. By nineteen he was again locked up, but this time in the Lincoln Penitentiary, a dreaded place with a warden who ruled by brute force and encouraged his goon squad of guards to behave similarly.
Ray was one of their most rebellious prisoners, who regularly plotted wall tear downs, escapes and riots. He was creating his own train wreck, for with each infraction his original seven year sentence was extended. He was thrown in ‘the hole’ so many times he lost count. The guards would enter twice a day, carrying a ration of three slices of bread, supplemented by a pan of food every third day. Ray once survived on those rations for a stretch of forty-five consecutive days.
Ray Tapia #17988
Ray was one of their most rebellious prisoners, who regularly plotted wall tear downs, escapes and riots. He was creating his own train wreck, for with each infraction his original seven year sentence was extended. He was thrown in ‘the hole’ so many times he lost count. The guards would enter twice a day, carrying a ration of three slices of bread, supplemented by a pan of food every third day. Ray once survived on those rations for a stretch of forty-five consecutive days.
Life seemed hopeless until something happened to turn his life around. It started the day he and his cohorts started a fire so horrific that the prison was engulfed in flames. Since the local fire department refused to come in, the National Guard came to the rescue instead. Ray refused to reenter the prison until he could have a meeting with the governor, who luckily agreed. And what Ray shared that day was the beginning of a new life for him.
This is a an inspiring story you simply can not miss. And once you read it, it is unlikely you will ever forget it.
CLICK TO READ MORE OF RAY’S STORY
MEET RAY IN THIS VIDEO
This story is now published in
TALES2INSPIRE ~ THE RUBY COLLECTION
and also in the double header
TALES2INSPIRE ~ THE DIAMOND COLLECTION – SERIES II
