we went to prison!

I’ll be honest, I was really nervous to go, but also really excited. 

Prison ministry has always been something I’ve wanted to do and when I found out we were going I was really excited, but I didn’t really think about what it was actually going to be like. I’ve never been inside a prison before. The one we went to is an all male “medium security correction facility”. The night before we went our host told us to make sure we cover all our tattoos & take out all our earrings & specifically do not dress “cute” because this is probably the first time these men have seen females in quite some time… haha okay… 

When we pulled up to the facility I didn’t really know what to think. The outside of it looked fairly nice, just like any other normal building. It was confusing how normal it looked, but as I started to look around, I noticed a man in a orange jump suit behind bars about 5 feet away from me with the most empty look on his face. No joy, no excitement, no hope, just emptiness, trapped behind the bars. That’s when it started to hit me where we were and the situation these men are in.

We went inside and were greeted by some of the guards. They were all incredibly kind – not like what you would imagine from the movies. & they even had a little snack shop where they sold us candy and snacks which I thought was really weird for some reason. 

They brought us down the hall to a conference room where we were told to wait until it was time for us start church. It seemed weird to me that they didn’t even ask to check our bags or ID’s or anything. While we were waiting in the conference room, Lucas, one of our hosts who brought us, started telling us stories about some of the men in the prison who he has had the opportunity to mentor. He told us a story about a man who was sitting in the exact same seat I was in about a week ago who decided to give his life to christ right in the middle of one of his anger management courses. I don’t know why but it was so crazy to me to picture a “convicted felon” sitting in the exact same seat as me…it always feels like there’s such a division between “us and them”. The free people and the ones behind bars. And the whole time I had to keep reminding myself that I am not better than any of these men. I am a sinner just like the rest of them. & just because I’m not locked up behind bars doesn’t mean I’m not convinced of the things I’ve done wrong in my life. and just because they are locked up behind bars doesn’t mean they aren’t forgiven by their father, our father. 

but anyways, finally a guard came and gathered us and brought us to where we would be having church. I had no idea what in the world this was about to look like, but in a weird way it was exactly what I expected. We walked through big green doors to the “courtyard.” It basically just looked like an indoor gym surrounded by jail cells. There were men of all ages dressed in orange and blue jumpsuits. Thats when I really started to get nervous. I kept looking around for guards and the only one I saw was the one jamming out on the piano to the worship songs they were singing in Afrikaans. 

But it was honestly a really cool sight… there right in front of me was a group of men locked up in prison who were dancing & singing & praising the Lord. I had to keep convincing myself that this was real. That men who are locked up for years & years are actually thanking the Lord and praising Him for their lives. 

The church service started with Lucas praying for us and then a few of my teammates shared a few verses from the bible (shoutout to han, abby, & aves because that would have been terrifying for me to do). I hate to admit this but I really struggled during the sermon to focus on what everyone was saying. I was sitting in front of about 100+ men who were all starring at me & I couldn’t help but wonder what each of them did to end up here. It was hard for me not to be a just a little bit scared. I had to keep telling myself “okay if I saw this man at my church & I didn’t know him would I be scared of him?” and every time the answer was no, so why should I be scared just because I’m meeting them during church in a prison rather than any other church. I had to keep reminding myself that they are children of God just like I am. That they are my brothers in Christ and I need to love them just like Jesus does. 

Lucas gave a really good word during his sermon. He spoke about how there is hope even in the darkest situation. That these men are not trapped by their sins because the Lord loves them so much and always forgives, if we ask. The only thing that blocks them from freedom is not the walls of the prison, but the walls they put up around their hearts blocking them from being loved & forgiven by Christ. 

At the end of the service Lucas did an alter call where he offered the opportunity for anyone to come up to the front & give their lives to Christ. When he said this, my first thought was nah no way any of these men are going to do this. Well, Jesus laughed in my face and said “just watch.” Two minutes later about 42 men were standing in front of us, one of them being the man I first saw right when we arrived. We prayed over them and they were able to publicly & proudly give their lives to Jesus. The joy I saw radiating from these men’s faces was something I didn’t think I would ever see in a prison and not only did it bring them hope & joy, but my entire team walked out of that room visibly uplifted by how much we saw the holy spirit move through that room. 

Yeah, there may be people in the world who do bad things, who commit sins unimaginable to us. But just because we don’t do something as “bad” as someone in prison, does not make us any better or any more loved by the father. He created all of us. He loves all of us. We are His children and literally nothing we do could ever change that.

“This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”  Romans 3:22

Today really opened my eyes to how much the Lord really really loves us. Like nothing we do could ever separate us from Him. If you know Jesus, you are free! & the only thing holding you back is yourself & your fear. So give it up! Let it go! Surrender yourself and allow the Lord to completely take over your life. It’s so good, He’s SO good.

*****

Life Updates:: 

• Our incredible amazing host, Tarina, took us to Cape Town last week!! We went on the red bus tour of the city, got to see table mountain, visited a bunch of different vineyards & orchids & had the best grapes in the entire world! 

• Ministry is still awesome! We’ve had a couple of really fun camps in the past two weeks & have visited a lot different schools.

• PVT is only two weeks away! yay! We get to see our parents! :)) But that also means we only have two weeks left in South Africa :(( 

*****

Thanks for reading & please feel free to ask questions or share your thoughts!

🙂