From that hot, tiny office emerged "The Cry of Your Heart," a collection of 10 songs on compact disc based on Wong's regrets about his past, fears about his future, and his faith.

Proceeds from sales of the CD will be donated to the Crime Victims Compensation Commission, a state panel that distributes payments to crime victims to try to ease their hardships.

"This has always been a dream of mine, to record a CD, and the fact that I've been able to do it in prison is overwhelming," said Wong, 37.

Wong's group — Kulani Correctional Facility Good News Jail and Prison Ministry Praise and Worship Team — was founded in 2003, and began performing at community lu'au to raise money for the prison ministry.

The group made such an impression that it began to draw crowds and its performing schedule was expanded. One event in Kona last October was packed, and people began asking how to get recordings of the music, prison officials said.

Donations through the New Hope Christian Fellowship Church in Hilo financed the project, and with help from volunteer Delis Estabilio's Cool Brz Studios, recording began in November. The CD includes 10 of Wong's songs, nine of which he wrote after his 1994 conviction in a sexual assault case.

Wong said the inmates were so dedicated to the project that two asked that their furloughs into the community be delayed so they could finish the effort.

So far, 1,000 CDs have been made, with plans for more if they sell well. The CDs cost $12 at the Hilo New Hope bookstore.

Of the 10 inmates who made the recordings, only five are still at Kulani. Wong is one of them and is waiting for a chance to be released on work furlough.

Wong, who grew up in Kane'ohe, said he has been moved by the community's acceptance of him and his music. The title song, "The Cry of Your Heart," expresses some of his anxiety about his upcoming release from prison.

"When I came into prison, because I loved music and I loved playing music in church, would I ever be able to do that again?" he said. "One of the lines in the song says, 'What will they say when I leave these bars and walls?' Basically, what is the community going to say when I come back, out from prison?"

The song ends with an assertion of hope, he said. "There is hope, there is hope in Christ, there is hope in his forgiveness."