One of the first things the warden said to me when I came to start the ministry at the jail is that somewhere around 85% of the inmates will never have a visitor the entire time they are in jail. This broke my heart as I thought about it. Here these men are, in complete brokenness and they can’t even have their own families come to visit them. For most, it’s because of financial reasons because the jail is a decent distance from the city proper and most people can’t afford the fair. For others, their family has disapproved of their choices and chose not to visit. Either way, I knew I had to do something.
God put it on my heart to not just start visiting these men daily, but find their families and see if there was a reason for their absence. If they wanted to visit their loved one, then it would be my joy to give them a free ride and a free meal. One by one we have brought family members to the jail and sweet reunions have happened. Every single person we have searched for, we have found in less than 30 minutes (which is difficult when there are no addresses or mapquest here). On top of that, all the family members have wanted to come with us to see their brother, sister, mother, father, or whatever relative is behind bars.
Yesterday, we were able to make another one happen. Gerald has recently been moved in with the minors although he is a few years older than the rest of the boys. The reason is that even though Gerald has already been in jail for two years, the crime he committed was when he was still underage. Now, this country has a zero tolerance policy on drug selling and can often have a harsher penalty for that then murder (most are 20 to life). Therefore, the gangs have been searching for minors to be “pushers” because their sentence will be much less harsh. At least that’s what Gerald’s friends told him.
About two years ago, Gerald was caught selling drugs and was sent to jail, just three months after his daughter was born. He has been locked up with the men since then and life hasn’t been so easy. He pulled me aside the other day as we were working with the minors and he began to tell me his story. His girlfriend and daughter had been to visit him once, but it was over seven months ago and he just wanted to see his little girl. Whenever a man, especially a father decides he wants to make a stand for something, I want to help him. Although Gerald has been with us less than a week, he has heard the word of God in his former cell for several months, and he wants so badly to be a daddy.
I have no idea how long his sentence will be, and neither does Gerald, but it doesn’t look good. He just wants his little girl to know he loves her and will provide for her one day, God willing. As their visit neared an end, I watched as Gerald walked his daughter around the visitors’ pond and she just hung onto her daddy. Despite how long it had been, it looked like she knew her daddy. There’s no telling how long they will be separate, but it was good for the mother to know Gerald is ready and wants to see his girl. It was a very touching moment to watch this reunion and my prayer is that this family will one day have the chance to be whole. After all, God has a way of redeeming things…
