This month we have had many different ministry opportunities: We help out at the church on Saturday and Sunday. We help out at multiple schools. We help out at a home for young women who are in hiding because of sexual abuse and finally we help out with women’s prison ministry.
Of all these ministries the one I am the most excited about is the women’s prison ministry. The past two months we have taught English and as awesome as that has been I’m ready to be stretched. I went to college for three years to be a teacher so I’m very comfortable in the classroom. When I heard the ministry opportunities this month I was more than ready. The point of being on the race is to be uncomfortable which then forces you to lean fully on God.
March 23, 2017
We finally got to go to the prison. There were a lot of complications getting us into the prison as well as conflicting schedules BUT everything finally worked out. At around 2pm we got in a taxi with the prison contact Sarah. Side note Sarah is such an amazing Godly woman and I’m so excited our team is able to help her in anyway this month. After a very bumpy taxi ride we made it to the prison. It was a bit of a process to get inside. We had to bring our passports and get checked into the system, then go through security, then make the long walk to the women’s area. We passed a lot of areas the male prisoners were in. My lovely team gets cat called every single day in normal circumstances. You can imagine it was a bit worse.
(We weren’t allowed to bring cameras or phones into the prison. We took this photo once we got home. It is our identification number and a stamp from the prison. In other words we got tatted)
After going through a number of locked gates we got to the women’s area. This prison wasn’t like any prison I’ve seen on TV. The women weren’t in cells, they were just in the gated area doing laundry and talking with each other. Something that was shocking to me was most of the women were pregnant or had very young children with them in the prison. I don’t know if after a certain age the children leave the prison but I found this very odd. Our team went with Sarah into a small classroom. There were benches set up to look like a church. We fit around 30 women, including us, into this tiny room to hear the word of God. We started off the service with singing, then Sarah started to preach. I know I have been in South America for almost three months now, but I still don’t know very much Spanish. During her sermon I was just praying for all the women. Over and over again I prayed that God would soften their hearts and allow His will to be done in their lives. After the sermon we prayed for the women and then stepped out of the classroom, getting ready to leave.
Then the women surrounded us asking for prayer. “Please pray for my shoulder.”, “Please pray for my back.”, “Please pray for my baby, he is sick.” So our team stepped out in God’s boldness and authority and prayed for everyone who wanted it. We took turns praying for healing and praying that God would open their hearts to Him.
In this moment I paused. I like to do this from time to time. It adds a bit of drama. I paused and thought to myself “Holy crap, you are not only in Peru, in a prison. You are praying for miracle in a prison yard in Peru.” Just let that sink in. What is my life. God is so good and so faithful.
We did not see a miracle, but God may heal them (Difference between miracle and healing. Healing takes time and a miracle is instant.) We get to go back to the prison a few more times and I’m definitely expecting God to move in big ways.
Please pray for the people we come into contact with. That God would soften their hearts and be willing to receive what we have to offer.
