Go to Jail

Do you ever feel like God is teaching you and preparing you for something, and then when the opportunity comes, you fall flat on your backside? Well, that was what just happened to me during my first trip to jail.

This month, we are in Santa Ana, El Salvador, and living in the city. It is wild how much of what we’ve seen looks and feels like we are back in the States. Wait, we have air conditioning? And there’s a tv here? And a Burger King is within walking distance? After the last four months I’ve had, it blew me away that this could be a ministry location! The people we are staying with are incredible, and have welcomed us into their home as part of their family. They said that they want to provide a restful place for us to live so that we can have time to focus on really spending time with God and listening to His leading. How amazing is that?

I knew this was just what I desired for myself and for my team – a chance to strengthen ourselves personally in addition to as a team so that we could be better prepared for whatever God has for us next. It can be so draining to be doing lots of ministry without having adequate time to be still before the Lord. So, we immediately started digging in to his word, both as individuals and with the two of our teams that are living here together. God just kept telling me, this month is about preparation, not about just hanging out, and I felt like we were all doing a good job making that a priority.

And then we went to jail.

They told us we were visiting the prison with a ministry called “Pan y Chocolate” (Bread and Chocolate) but that was all we really knew. When we arrived, they told us to leave everything in the van, so we didn’t take anything with us, not even our Bibles. We were ushered into the back area, into a small area with four cells, where faces and arms were pressed against the bars to look at us. Most of the men were shirtless, crammed into different cells, organized by the severity of the crime, and all just talking and staring. Almost immediately we were asked to begin sharing “a word from the Lord” to the people in each cell. All of a sudden, not only was I overwhelmed by the situation I was in, but I realized I didn’t even have my Bible with me! Although I still appeared calm on the outside, I was a little freaked out internally. I don’t speak their language, I don’t know why any of them are here in the first place (are they murderers or did they just not pay their bills?), I don’t have my Bible, and I certainly don’t have a “word from the Lord” that I want to share with a cell of 25 shirtless men.

It took me about 5 whole minutes to finally process the truth in the situation. First of all, I was prepared. Four of five scriptures came to mind with truths that God had been teaching me lately in my own life. God’s love and truth applies to all of us, no matter what side of the bars we are on. And second of all, wasn’t it the Holy Spirit that was supposed to guide in these situations and not me? Oh yeah, that’s right. He’s got this, and all I need to do is be an empty vessel for Him to work through.