Brent Smith of Fallon, Nev., talked about his faith Tuesday as part of a Billy Graham Mission service at the Boone County Jail Work Camp in Burlington. (Patrick Reddy photos) | ZOOM |

        BURLINGTON — The striped tent along Bullittsville Road contrasted Tuesday with the chain-link fence, barbed wire and Boone County Jail guards around it.

        Members of the Billy Graham Mission team came to the county jail's minimum-security work camp offering hope for those who showed up. It was the only trip to a correctional facility planned as part of the Rev. Mr. Graham's weeklong visit to the Tristate, which will include services Thursday through Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium.

        Three associate evangelists with the Minneapolis-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association spoke to about 75 people, including inmates, their families and ordinary citizens. The Rev. Ralph S. Bell was the featured speaker.

        “You do hope you make a difference by giving (inmates) that exposure,” Boone County Jailer Ed Prindle said.

Inmate Charles Cuneo, 23, of Hebron, listens to the service Tuesday at the Boone County Jail Work Camp. At left is deputy jailer William Rogers. | ZOOM |

        The Rev. Mr. Bell of Fort Collins, Colo., said visits to jails and schools are part of every mission. He noticed more inmate interest in religion after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

        “I think after 9-11, the focus has been on the reality of death,” the Rev. Mr. Bell said. “They're ordinary people with the same dreams, hopes and desires.”

        Inmate Charles Cuneo, 23, said he liked to go to church while growing up in Hebron. Tuesday, he was under the tent in a white shirt, dress slacks and a red-white-and-navy blue striped tie.

Speaker Brent Smith (with hat) prays with others at the beginning of the mission service | ZOOM |

        “I was a Christian on the outside until I backslid,” said Mr. Cuneo, who is serving the last two months of a sentence for theft over $300. “I figured this would help straighten me out.”

        The service was open to the public. In addition to the Rev. Mr. Bell's sermon, people also heard a testimony from Brent Smith, a horse breaker and cowboy from Fallon, Nev., who works with the Rev. Mr. Bell.

        “God challenged me as a man,” Mr. Smith said. “I learned from the Bible (that) we are born cowards.”

Representatives of the Billy Graham Mission set up a tent for their service at the work camp. | ZOOM |

        The Rev. Mr. Bell said his jail sermons don't vary from the traditional fundamentalist Christian message — that forgiveness of sin and passage to heaven are possible only through faith in Jesus Christ.

        What differs are the biblical illustrations the Rev. Mr. Bell uses. He said he uses stories of man's loneliness and greed, since inmates focus on those topics because they've lost their freedom.

        Norman Baynum, 59, of Florence, was at Tuesday's meeting. He's familiar with both sides of the fence — he conducts Bible studies at jails in Campbell and Kenton counties, and he has served time for eight DUI convictions in Boone and Kenton counties and the state prison in LaGrange.

        “I still run into guys I knew when I was in jail,” Mr. Baynum said. “I'd love to see these guys on the straight path.”

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