When you think about prison, freedom is probably not a word that comes to mind. You might even say that prison is completely antithetical to freedom. Prisoners are locked away from society and closely monitored inside the prison walls. Their daily life is controlled by the prison guards. By most standards, they have no freedom.
But when we did ministry in a women’s prison during our last week here in Trujillo, I saw a lot more freedom than I ever imagined possible.
When we got to the prison, we had to wait outside for a few minutes while the guards took all our names and passports. When we went inside we got stamped to identify us as visitors. After that, we were each thoroughly searched before finally being allowed to go into the area of the prison where we would do our ministry. They led us to a big concrete recreational area that could’ve easily been mistaken for a school yard if it weren’t for the barbed wire on top of the fences and all the watchtowers. After waiting for a little while, the women started filing into the bleachers. At first we didn’t even realize they were prisoners because they were wearing normal clothes. Some of them even had babies and children with them. Unlike in the United States, prisoners in Peru wear their own clothes that their family members bring them. Also, if they are pregnant or have young children when they go to prison, their children are allowed to stay with them until age five. I never thought I’d see a baby in a prison, but there they were like it was no big deal!
There was a pretty big group of women, probably 300 or so in all. We performed a few dances for them and then we did a skit that they absolutely loved. (It was a skit that our squad had done previously for the youth group at church, but I’m pretty sure the women at the prison enjoyed it even more than the youth at the church. They thought it was hilarious.) So after that, my squad mate Ash shared the Gospel and our group sang Amazing Grace. Many of the women prayed to receive Christ. There was one woman in particular who I noticed throughout our time at the prison. I noticed her because she seemed very attentive during the Gospel message and I could tell she was getting emotional. By the end, she had her arms raised with tears streaming down her face. She, along with many other women, also came down afterward so we could pray for them. They all had tears in their eyes after we prayed for them. The women at this particular prison are there for pretty serious crimes, many for drugs or murder, so it was really neat to see them experience the forgiveness and freedom that Christ offers. They may not yet be free in a physical sense, but spiritually they now have a freedom that many “free” people have not found.
Freedom has been somewhat of a theme this month in Peru. Throughout our time of ministry here, I’ve seen many people accept Christ. I’ve seen many of my squad mates and team mates experience freedom from past wounds in their lives. We’ve sung a song called “Yo Soy Libre” (that’s Spanish for “I Am Free”) COUNTLESS times at church services. It’s been a pretty incredible month.
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”-Galatians 5:1
