This month we were able to visit a jail.
Instructions: dress modestly and don’t wear any jewellery
watches, bring nothing valuable with you.
Hand out food and drinks.
They are gang members.
A slightly offensive stagnant smell greets me as we walk
into the room. The temperature
rises and I feel the heat that accompanies many people in a small stuffy
enclosed space. I try not to stare
as the striking sight that catches me off guard… probably 40 men in a narrow
cell behind bars, with some men up high on metal rafters. Hungry for dignity.
I had the privilege of talking with a group of 20 beautiful
women.
Behind the bars I saw women of grace. They were lovely. Warm smiles graced their faces. Generosity is their currency. These
women operate beyond themselves. Despite their circumstances, despite being
smelly, hot, hungry, confined, and crowded… despite their pasts and actions,
despite punishment that ensues The ladies give
the food and drink to the others before taking one for themselves, they listen
intently, they give me their hand-made bracelets and cute little things that make all the difference like holding up a towel for one another as they use the toilet. I’m challenged by their actions that contrast their
ungracious living circumstances.
The sight here is a visual to a different reality. Bondage. To what… do I even know it?
That last night there were men cuffed to poles on the
wall. Men sitting on the floor
with their eyes burning as we walked by…
I spoke with some other guys… Looked and saw these guys as lost friends. The locked cell screamed in unison with the evasive, forlorn young man’s
presence.
But Jesus’ words cut through, like His hope does.
This is what Jesus proclaimed, lived out, and will do now.
Isaiah 61: 1-3
The Spirit of the
Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good
news to the poor. He has sent me
to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release
from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and
the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn and provide for those
who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the
oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of despair. They will be called oaks of
righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
