There was a LOT of ministry to do in Vilankulos. Every morning we would break up into
groups and head off to the different ministries that were available. This particular morning, I wasn’t
feeling called to anything specifically.
They needed 8 people to go to the prison and I felt my hand go up. I didn’t even know I wanted to go.
We got to the prison and I was shocked that it was a
prison. It was a tiny concrete
building. The windows were just
cut out of the concrete and they had some bars through them. The security wasn’t nearly as tight as
I’d imagined a prison would have.
There were a couple guards that sat around the gate and there were a few
inside, but that was pretty much it.
We waited outside for about 10 or 15 minutes before they let
us in. We prayed together and
thanked God for the amazing things he was going to do through us. Finally the guards motioned for us to
go in and so the 8 of us went into the prison. As we walked through the gate there was a central area that
held the firewood and the big pots they used for cooking. There were about 4 big rooms that
surrounded the central area. The
guards led us into one big room on the left hand side. We walked into the room and every
single prisoner was sitting on the floor in this room. It was HOT in there. The windows were not big enough to get
a breeze going. As you can imagine,
there was a big of a smell happening in that room. For a hot minute, I was wondering why I decided that the
prison would be a good idea. I was
stuck in a hot sweaty room with about 130 prisoners. I closed my eyes and asked God to help me check my
attitude. I opened them again and
I looked at the faces of the men and women in this room. They were READY to hear what we had to
say.
Our contact, Jaco spoke first. This was a brand new ministry for him and we were privileged
to help him get it off the ground. I’ve never seen such attentiveness. These men and women were HUNGRY for the
Gospel. Jaco spoke to them about
the love of God and then he opened it up for us to talk. We didn’t have much time left and he
wanted someone to share if God had placed something on our hearts. I had some ideas, but I wasn’t sure I
was supposed to speak. Nobody else
volunteered so I said I would do it.
I paced back and forth for a little bit and Jessica stood up and said,
“I have something to say”. I
sighed a huge sigh of relief and sat down to hear what she had to say. She spoke about Paul. She talked about the crimes he
committed and how God used him even though he was a murderer. She talked to
them about how they can find freedom in Christ. It was an AMAZING message.
At the end, Jaco asked if anybody wanted to receive Jesus as
their savior. At this request,
most of the hands in the room went up.
So then he asked everyone to stand up if they wanted to pray to receive
Jesus. Ya’ll, EVERY single person
in that room stood up. They didn’t
just stand up, though � they JUMPED up.
They were so eager. It was
pretty much one of the most amazing things I’ve ever witnessed.
Many of the prisoners were asking for Bibles and Jaco said
he would try to get them some if he could. Two days later, he approached me and told me that he had
just received a donation large enough to get Bibles for every single one of
those prisoners. It never ceases
to amaze me to see how God provides exactly when we need Him to.
