The morning after our arrival in Gaborone, Botswana, our young, super cool, and free-spirited Canadian host Nathan gave us a brief history of Botswana, the Mennonite church and the projects him and his wife have been called to do in this country.
He gave us an itinerary of our duties for the month and explained how we would be partnering with him and another local pastor to be a part of their local ministries this month.
He talked about his vision of building a community park for at-risk kids living in a rough area in Gaborone and his rock climbing ministry. He spoke about other work we would be doing as well but what instantly caught my attention was when he mentioned we would be doing prison ministry every Saturday. Where we would go inside the Botswana Prison to encourage our brothers who have been incarcerated.
I’m not gonna lie, it took me back a bit. Mostly, I was surprised that prison ministry existed around the globe, especially in Africa. Considering we always hear of AIDS relief, hunger relief, etc., as part of international missionary work but prison ministry, now that was interesting to hear. At the same time I was like, “oh, that’s no biggy…been there, done that.”
So when our host Nathan asked my team for a volunteer to speak to the inmates in the Botswana Prison, I felt led to volunteer that Saturday. I didn’t think it was a big deal.
Ok, ok let me explain.
No, I have never committed a crime.
No, I have never been arrested.
However, the prison system has been a part of my life for the last 17 years (I will share in a bit).
A few days passed and I figured I would plan what I would say to the inmates. I knew God wanted me to use my story to encourage the men. So I wrote my story down. I expressed how the prison system entered my life and how it affected my family and I, both positively and negatively, and how God turned this bad situation for my family’s own good.
So the day came for me to speak to the men from the Botswana Prison. We arrived to the prison early, wrote our names down, passed through security, walked through the dirty path surrounded by tall barb wired fences and walked inside.
We could hear singing and instruments playing.
It was them.
They were welcoming us with joyful hearts.
As we made a turn to meet them, I made eye contact with them and suddenly tears started pouring out. Why was I crying?
I couldn’t stop crying.
I thought I had been passed this phase of my life. However, my tears said otherwise.
I realized that I saw my brother’s face in the men. It brought back sad memories.
The Botswana men continued worshipping and I continued sobbing at the corner of a prison building.
I needed to get it together because I needed to share my testimony in a few minutes.
Thankfully my teammate Lauren offered to pray for me. Then I prayed some more on my own, asking God to guide my talk with the men and to help me stop crying because I was looking like a hot mess in front of everyone.
Worship was over. I was introduced and it was now my turn to share my story. My translator was waiting for me to start.
Here’s a gist of my story.
When I was 10 years old, my eldest brother committed his first offense at the age of 17. He was a minor. One decision gone wrong is what we believed happened. Unfortunately, that decision led him to be charged as an adult, receiving a 25 year to life sentence.
As you can imagine, this experience broke my family down in all ways possible; socially, emotionally, financially, you name it. However, this experience also strengthened us as an immediate family.
My brother’s incarceration led him to change his life for the better and thankfully he chose to let God take control of his life while incarcerated. Through the struggles of being a youngster amongst veteran mindsets, my brother managed to serve the Lord for 16 years behind bars. Not many can say that. A lot of this was due to his involvement with the prison ministries there. It played a major impact in my brother’s spiritual development and intimacy with the Lord. It allowed him to grow in his relationship with God and get support from his community of believers while behind bars for 16 years.
My brother’s incarceration also led me to follow Jesus and pursue a deeper relationship with Him at the age of 14. I began attending church at that age and I haven’t turned back. I don’t know where I’d be without God in my life.
Finally. It was over. I got through it.
The men thanked me for sharing and I ended my story by encouraging them to always stay focused on the Lord because He can use their circumstance for a greater good.
There’s something about sharing your story that is tough. It’s like you’re re-living that season in your life, all the unnecessary hurt all over again. Who wants to do that? No one. But it’s needed. Not only to decompress our emotions but uplift others in similar situations as us.
It was that day, in the Botswana Prison, that I realized that my story does matter.
I never thought my story was important to share. I never thought it could make an impact in someone’s life but the men expressed otherwise, which was very encouraging.
This is why I believe in Prison Ministries.
This is why I volunteered to speak that day.
We all have a story. Whether short or long.
I believe God uses all of our stories to strengthen us and to positively impact the lives of others.
So share your story with everyone. People you know, people you don’t know. People that speak your language and people who don’t.
Our stories matter. Your story matters.
….because it can transform someone’s life for the good.
