Greetings from Prison!

Today I went to jail. I have to admit, none of the stereotypical things I thought would happen, actually did happen. I didn’t get one phone call. I didn’t have my mug shot taken or stand in a row with other people with numbers written behind me. I didn’t get a bright orange jumpsuit and room with a lady named Big Sal. I guess the reason none of those things happened was because I wasn’t actually in jail. I was only there to visit and preach…Praise Jesus, I haven’t gotten arrested for anything on the Race…yet. 😉

After a few weeks of waiting for permission from the “Wardess” (female jail warden), trying to get someone from our ministry to give us a ride to and from the jail and being extremely patient on the LORD’s timing to do prison ministry and not our own, we were finally able to go to the women’s jail today. I got a word from the Lord last night to preach to the women on the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. I knew Joseph’s story would be the perfect thing to give a sermon on in a jail setting because it deals with overcoming anger, jealousy, bitterness, deceit, slavery and yes, even prison by completely relying on the Lord Almighty and trusting that He will deliver you from all your trials and tribulations. Joseph was constantly wronged by those around him but the Lord always provided for Joseph and favored him as His child.

I knew the women could relate to the Bible story because while a lot of them have been hurt by people in their lives, it’s crucial for them to know that God has a plan for their lives and that He has put them in prison to be transformed and restored into the women of the Lord they are meant to be. All I wanted to do was give them hope in Jesus. It was so reassuring to look out at the crowd of women shaking their heads up and down and smiling at me during the sermon. I had really prayed that the Lord would speak through me and that my words would not be my own but the Spirit’s and praise His name, because He did that very thing!

After I gave the message, Addie shared her testimony and then all four of us Racers (Abby, Angela Grit, Addie and I) broke the women up into small groups to do a group discussion and prayer time. The women were so sweet and loving to all of us and I found out during small group time that the majority of the women were in jail because they had been arrested for drugs and could not afford a lawyer to get them out. A good majority of the women have been in jail since 2003 and most of them have had no loved ones come to visit them since being incarcerated. I could not imagine the pain and suffering these women have endured for these past years. They were all so grateful and overjoyed that we took the time to visit them and I was so humbled to be the hands and feet of Jesus to them.

I shared my testimony with the small group of women I had and didn’t expect any of them to want to share their stories with the “crazy white girl who’d come from America” but none of the women hesitated a bit to share their stories with me, and I was beyond grateful for their immediate trust in me. One woman said she had been looking to so many things in her life before prison; men, drugs and alcohol, and she knew that God took her away from all those things to force her to lean on Him and look to Him. Another woman described Jesus as “the best janitor of all because Jesus cleans my heart and soul better than anything else could,” and that even though she’d lost her child and her family because of being in prison, she knew God was using everything in her path for His glory.

I was so impressed with how brave and strong each one of them were. Here they are, in jail with no loved ones coming to see them and no one trying to help them or set them free, and they still have so much hope and joy in Jesus. I can’t get over how blown away I was with these women. They were all so bold in their identity in the Lord and all of them were so vulnerable and honest with me, which was such a testament to the work of the Lord in their hearts and in their lives.

Ministering to prisoners is something the Lord has put on my heart for quite some time now and I was so humbled to have finally been given the opportunity to serve these women and pour into them as my sisters in Christ. We are going back to the women’s jail on Friday (tomorrow) and I can’t WAIT to see what happens!! Stay tuned for more on what the Lord is doing in the jail’s of the Philippines…

Side note: I have photos from the jail ministry but they are on my squad leaders computer so please bare with me until I can get the photos from her to put them up here on my blog for you all to see!!