2/24/16
Yesterday, 2/23/16, My team Brave Hearts and I went to a prison about an hour outside of Balaka, Malawi and did prison ministry. I had never done prison ministry before, and wasn’t sure what to expect, and to be totally honest wasn’t sure that I was totally comfortable with the idea. However, like everything else here in Balaka, I figured just go with it, everything is new this month so why not try this as well.
So here we were the six of us with our 4 interpreters standing in front of 250 or so male prisoners between the age of 16 and older, when we divide up into four groups of 50 or so men in each group. Shannon and Erin went to one, Kate had one, Rachel had one, and then Jillian and I took one.
Jillian spoke first, she spoke on a couple verses from Hebrews 12 (I believe) about how the race is long, and don’t grow weary but persevere through it. Then I spoke to our group of fifty. I spoke on the verses Romans 3:23, and John 3:16-18, about how no one is perfect, that we all fall short of the glory of God, and that Jesus is the only perfect one, and how no matter how hard I try to get it right, I’m gonna make mistakes, and I’m gonna have bad days. But that Christ came and died on the cross for us, and that he didn’t come to condemn our world but to save it. All we have to do is believe and if God had hope for us to send his only son to die on the cross for us, then I can have hope not only in myself but them as well.
After speaking we asked if they had any questions and they did, and while I don’t remember them all, the one that stands out was when this, “How do I have a relationship with Jesus.” At that point Jillian and I looked over at each other, both excited. Neither of us had thought to do an alter call, but this man was still asking us how to accept Christ for himself. So I told him, all he had to do was say a prayer confess his sins, and ask Christ to be his personal savior, and then we told him to continue on and have a personal relationship with him. He seemed excited by the idea, so I asked if he wanted to say the prayer to accept Christ into his life, and he said yes. So then I asked anyone else if they wanted to accept Christ and say the prayer with us, and four other men said yes. So Jillian leaned over and asked if I wanted to lead the prayer, and I surprised myself by saying yes. I think I was still so in shock of all of what was happening that I didn’t know what else to say. So there I was serving in a prison about an hour outside of Balaka, Malawi, leading 5 grown men in the prayer to accept Jesus Christ as their personal lord and savior.
Above: Photo Credit Apostle Andrew
Shortly before we left, we gave each man in the prison a gift of a bar of soap for so they could wash their clothes. Each man looked so grateful as they received their gift, but they seemed even more grateful that we had come to spend time with them.
As we drove back to our home in Balaka, I was sitting in the back of the truck (an open van as Apostle Andrew calls it), watching my skin burn from the sun, I couldn’t help but think how unqualified I felt for prison ministry at the beginning of the day, and how God used me. As I wrote in my journal last night, “God is using us here in Balaka, Malawi and in the world in general. God brought each of us to the W.R. for a reason, and if my reason was for today then this trip has already been well worth it.”
God has a reason for each of us on D-Squad for being here, and I don’t know what it is, but if my reason was so that I could spend time serving in a Malawi Prison speaking to these men about how it’s okay to not always be perfect, and that not everyone is perfect, and that Christ already came to die on the cross not to condemn us but to save us then I am so thankful that he brought me here.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.’ (John 3:16-18 ESV)
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By the time you guys read this blog, my next fundraising deadline of February 29th will have passed. I am currently around $5000 dollars away from being fully funded which needs to be done by the end of April if I am to stay on the race until November with my squad. I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life this year. God has used me in so many ways and is growing me and stretching me in ways that I never thought possible and we’re only at the end of month two. I can’t wait to see what he has planned for me in the future. If you would like to donate please hit the support me button on this page to donate, all donations here are tax-deductible. Or if you would like to support me for spending money, or money for emergencies, or things like my ticket home in November, please go to paypal.com and donate to my email address [email protected]; donations through paypal are not tax-deductible. All support both financially and through prayer and words of encouragement are greatly appreciated.
*Correction- Deadline is due today at midnight
