Blue long sleeve pants and shirt with trimmed white, guys with heads shaved and women who watch their own kids behind bars that keep them from freedom outside. They walk in line, circles, build, and who knows what they are in there for or how long they will be. The prison is an environment that God had always put in my heart to share His love in the States, but it never started. Now, in the Philippines and in Cambodia I’ve walked into the tall concrete walls topped with barbwire and I have seen God so evident in their smiles. Prison ministry will teach you something (a whole lot actually) but for me the reality that no matter what past we have, God never gives up on us, and neither should His disciples.
I mean, come on, do you really expect to walk into such places and to see tons of smiles from people who have been sentenced to life, or other such judgments? God, I don’t get it, and what crazy expectations I have that are being broken. We all have a past, and even though we may never forget it, God will when Christ becomes our hope. I have seen more fire and passion in these people than most of my life has ever felt and I don’t think it’s coincidence. Maybe we have forgotten the deepest satisfaction of truly being forgiven. These people not only know the real forgiveness from Christ, but they’ve really felt in their hearts a complete transformation from the person who put them there to now being a new creation; even if circumstances don’t change.
And no, I’ve never done anything to get sentenced to such a life behind bars, but in God’s eyes I am no different from these people. I was without hope, and so were you. But God never gave up on us, He’s jealous and relentless. I have been so blessed to see his transparent love in these people because they have shown me freedom in such a place. My heart has bars of affirmation, pride, comfort, lack of faith in times, my expectations of a good life and even of God/ministry. All this keeps hindering me from being the person that God truly desires me to become, but He’s not giving up on me and He’s in the process of breaking them. But these men and women? Their bars have been laid bare and have nothing left to hide, transparency is easy when your crime is confessed and you’re wearing inmate clothes. But I’m no better and they are loved by Jesus so much He died for them. Freedom isn’t free, and neither should our lives act like we earned it above those who society looks down upon as believers. We are not of this world, we are warriors for a God who loved us; all the way down to the prisoner who’s done in our minds the worst of all.
One of the blessings and need that we found out was that there is a growing interest among some of the inmates to learn the Bible, and there’s a small wooden shack around the barracks where they are doing that. The problem is, they don’t have enough desks for the inmates who want to learn the Bible, and hopefully come to know Christ. The costs of the wood to build the desks is $40 American, because it’s a strong material, and they need about five more desks. It’s more than the prison can afford, and is a huge need in order to teach the Bible and share the love of Jesus with them.
Our team, Dynami, also had the opportunity to go to Kampong Cham orphanage the largest orphanage said to be in Cambodia. There are about ninety kids there and we played games and got to love on them. It’s said they are lucky. Why? Because most kids who aren’t wanted or lose parents will either be sent to relatives that resent them because of the extra financial strain or will be sold into human trafficking and brothels for very little so they aren’t a worry any more to the families. The means that if that’s the case, those kids (especially young girls) will sleep in one small concrete room their whole lives and have sex with numerous men at night not ever getting free from that. It could have easily been them.
One of our other recent visit was to the Vietnamese floating villages; population of 40,000 and less than one percent Christian. A real community of people who live in housing communities that float on the bank of the Mekong River. All water needs are supplied by the river (washing clothes, drinking, bathroom, you name it), and the sanitation is horrible. They escaped Vietnam when Communism was on the rise and Cambodia wouldn’t allow them to live on the land. Cambodia allows them to live on the river, and if the people go back to Vietnam they’ll be executed being seen as traitors.
One of my teammates told me somewhat of a parable. That the harvest is plenty, but all we do as laborers is keep painting the side of the barn. We’re making and spending huge amounts of money on buildings to look nice, but the outside (our real mission of people) is ripe but forgotten. Did you know 95% of our church funds go to domestic things, and not only a half percent of our finances go to the unreached people for the Gospel? If that was reversed, comfort wouldn’t be a hindrance and we’d wipe prisons, orphans, and brothels off the face of the earth Church!!
This is our world, as believers what will you stand for and how will you do it?
