This past week, God’s freedom transformed the lives of people who have had their freedom taken away. God’s freedom transformed the lives of people who wake up each morning behind bars in a building secured by cameras, guards, and fences. This past week, God’s freedom took over a detention center.
On Tuesday, we woke up and Pastor TJ told us that we were going to go share testimonies and do some worship at a juvenile boy’s detention center. I thought it would be a cool day, but had no idea of what “jail ministry” looked like besides what I’d read about in letters from some missionaries that my parents support. We squished into Pastor TJ’s truck (which we have lovingly named Pack-in’ Cube) and headed to the detention center. When we arrived, we prayed before entering the front doors that God would allow us to be open vessels to do whatever He wanted to be done that day. To be completely honest, I didn’t have very high hopes; I figured that most of the boys we interacted with would be jaded, disconnected, and would only listen to our message as a way to get some of the free cookies we had brought along with us. (Mental note to remind myself to check my attitude and remind myself that God has much bigger plans than my silly human brain can comprehend, and to enter into situations EXPECTANT that God is going to move, because He is!)
Once inside, we saw about 40 boys aged 11-18 (11 years old… can you believe that? I wonder what his story is…) sitting in neat rows, ready to listen. We sang a few songs (that I honestly can’t remember right now), and Keeley and Maggie bravely agreed to share their testimonies with 40 boys who didn’t even speak their same language. Their stories were SO life-giving and full of the goodness of the Lord and encouragement that He has a plan for the lives of His children, regardless of background and past mistakes. Both girls shared about the redemption that God has woven into their lives and the lives of their families, and both spoke LIFE over the boys listening to them. Oh, and it’s also important to note that worship and testimonies were being delivered directly in front of a floor-to-ceiling statue of Buddha (talk about God overcoming the idols of this world and reigning in power and glory). Once testimonies were shared, Pastor TJ shared a message with the boys. He spoke in Thai, but told us later that He spoke about Cain, Abel, giving the Lord our first-fruits and the best that we have, and about getting and STAYING on a path that brings both spiritual and physical/eternal LIFE instead of death.
At the end of the message, TJ prayed over the boys, and asked if any of the boys wanted to accept the Lord as their Savior. Six (as in s-i-x) boys raised their hands and came forward. I couldn’t believe it; I literally did a double-take. I hadn’t seen that many people say they wanted to accept the Lord since my Id-Ra-Ha-Je (Christian summer camp) days. We got to go pray for our new brothers in Christ, as well as the other boys who had been listening, hand out cookies, and take some pictures before packing back into the Cube and heading home. And on the ride home, my mind started GOING.
I began to piece together this plan of how we could get Bibles to the six boys, and to contact people back home and do a CrowdFunder and to try to get twenty or thirty Bibles into the detention center because why just stop at six because these boys are going to have questions and they’re going to need the Scriptures and not just the New Testament but the Old Testament too and they’re going to need encouragement and if we don’t, then how will they get Bibles and this is such an amazing opportunity and we HAVE to do this. And I didn’t realize it until sweet, wise Anna Beth was talking that night about her fear for our six new brothers in Christ and about how she was trying to remember that God has chosen these boys so she had to believe that He was going to be faithful in pursing them. And my heart stilled, and my mind stopped, and I realized that, while working to get Bibles to our six new brothers and whoever else we could get Bibles to is a great idea, I was trying to play Savior. Underneath my desire to get God’s Word to these boys was fear that, if they didn’t get Bibles (read: if I didn’t get them Bibles), that they would be lost and that they would be like the seed that falls among the rocks or the thorns in Matthew 13, and that they would decide that this Jesus thing isn’t worth it and they it would be like it never happened.
But thank God (thank you, Father) that He doesn’t work that way. Anna Beth’s words rang SO true: God chose these boys. He knew that these boys were going to be adopted into His family that day. He wasn’t shocked by it like I was. God didn’t need the songs that we sang, the words that we spoke, or the prayers that we prayed to accomplish His purpose. He knew far before I started my Race that these 6 boys would find eternal hope that day. “And Joanna,” He said, “you don’t have to worry about these boys being teased by the other boys in the detention center. You don’t have to worry about them not having community within the center. Why are you taking this on yourself, Joanna? These boys were never yours. The work that was accomplished today was work done by MY goodness, MY grace, MY mercy, and MY Spirit. I have started a good work in these boys, Joanna, and I will carry it on to completion. Not you.”
Gosh, what Truth. Thank you, Papa, for being so gracious to me, and for reminding me of these truths in such a gracious way. We are SO quick to take on responsibility and shoulder burdens that were NEVER ours to begin with. And our Father is SO incredible because all He asks is that we lay these burdens down as His feet. He wants to take these burdens, these responsibilities, these anxieties, upon His own shoulders; He’s already paid the price to do so, after all. “My load is easy, and my burden is light,” He tells us. And if He is True, which I believe He is, then His name is Jehovah Jirah; His name is GOD PROVIDES. And He will provide for those boys. He CHOSE them. He hand-picked them. And He will sustain them. He will speak to their hearts. He will give them strength. He will show them community and He will encourage them and He WILL NOT LET THEM GO.
Just like you. Just like me. Just like our friends and family members and loved ones. His name is GOD PROVIDES. And He will provide for us. He CHOSE us. He hand-picked us. And He will sustain us. He will speak to our hearts. He will give us strength. He will show us community and He will encourage us and He WILL NOT LET US GO.
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PLEASE pray for these six new brothers; if you have a relationship with the Lord, then they are your brothers, too! How beautiful! Pray that God would move in their hearts and lives in incredible ways, that He would give them strength, that He will show them community, and that He will encourage them (and pray expectantly because HE WILL!). With heart and motives in check, I’d still love to get Bibles to the boys. Pastor TJ knows of a church giving out free copies of the New Testament, so we’re working to see if we could get a couple copies from them to get to the boys at some point. I’ll keep you updated! Thanks be to our sustainer, our encourager, our provider, our Lord Jesus Christ!
