On Friday I got to go do Prison ministry at the Women’s Correctional Facility. It wasn’t going around and preaching as you would expect, but more like going to a church service with them in the prison. So going into it, even though I had heard from friends what it was like, I was still kind of nervous and not really sure what to expect. We get there and wait for the Pastor to come out and greet us. We then have to sign in, and have nothing on us (no cell phone, wallet, I didn’t wear jewelry) and then go through a metal detector. On our way walking back to the church the Pastor gave us a tour. Where people were put (based on behavior) and the different things offered in the prison.
At the end of our tour we met and inmate named Mary(*name changed for privacy). She has been in and out of prison 8 times since 1995. And she clearly declared:
“This will be my last time in prison”
Can I get an AMEN??
Around 6ish, the women start arriving, we begin by greeting them. We stood at the door and shook their hands. They were very friendly and happy that we had come. We went inside and had worship. No band. Just a cd player and a song book. After one song was over, the women would call out which song they wanted to sing. There were songs like Amazing Love, How He loves, All in All and many many more. After worship a scripture was read:
Romans 7:15-25.
(You should read it)
After it was read, Mary raised her hand and said her version was different. She had a Message Bible. She read it aloud and the women laughed at the wording, but it was so more apt for their circumstance and they seemed to truly understand it.
After the scripture reading, was a Bible study discussion. Women would raise their hands and talk about what they got out of the scripture. There were some really good thoughts and you can tell these women meditate on the Word of God and take it to heart, maybe more than some of us do.
At 7pm, the real service started. Some women left and more came. We probably had around
80 women there (out of 1,000 in the prison).
We sang and there was a sermon and even communion. The women were very involved throughout the service.
During worship, the women just let free praising the same God as me. Standing there, I almost burst into tears. Here I am ready to leave on an 11 month mission trip and am so blessed to be able to, but these women love God as much as I do. I am no better than them. Though they have made mistakes in the past, such as abuse, drugs and murder, they know that Jesus died for them and they are as free as me. Though they are stuck in this maximum security prison for who knows how long, maybe for life, they are free because Jesus died for them. And sometimes that is all they need.
