So I hate to admit it, but I am kind of a hopeless romantic. I think valentine’s day is a super adorable holiday because it is sharing it with someone that you love or someone that is special in your life at the moment. Â Well, this year I am on a contract so having any type of relationship is out the door. But waking up on February 14th was me getting dragged out of bed to come to breakfast with sweet notes from Joey and Michael and having gummy bears, snickers and chocolate for breakfast with a cup of coffee. I felt to so loved and blessed to have two great guys on my team that care for us 5 girls and want to push us in all areas of lives. They also wanted to spoil us with the other 12 guys on our team and create this special day for all the girls of N squad. Later in the evening, they had a dinner that was pasta and chicken and had roses for all the girls. They waited on us and served us. They also prepared comedy for us and did improv…it was an unforgettable evening that brought a smile one every single girl on N squad!
After waking up to this amazing surprise, I knew that God had called me to do ministry at the prison that day in Trujillo and the idea of going to a prison on valentines day was pretty sweet. I get to love on men that really messed up in life and share Jesus love to them on a day that celebrates love. Immediately when I walked in the prison, I felt fear but I knew Jesus was leading our team in worship, testimonies, and preaching, but being a woman in a mans prison was a bit awkward. They look at you because you are white, female, and the viewpoint of woman was like a piece of meat. I never felt so invaded and disgusted by the looks I got. But I know that God was going to use me to bring glory to Him and further His kingdom.
So we walked into max security with my team (2 girls and 5 guys) Sarah (our contact), and the pastor, who was in prison and his worship squad…who were also all in prison. So here we were hanging out with prisoners sharing Jesus love with other prisoners. We started with worship. Meredith, who is an amazing singer and guitar player, and I led worship. She is so gifted and sang and spanish while we jammed out with the drum squad we had with Steven Buffington and the other prisoners. The Holy Spirit was moving. Testimonies were shared and the gospel was shared. We had the opportunity to pray over different men in the prison. It is crazy because there is nobody with you, the security guards allow you to just walk into the compound and there is no one there to protect you with these guys that are locked up in max security for reasons you have no clue why… that is when you have to trust that Jesus is protecting you! They pretty much are mobile in their compound not in bars and we could interact with these men…it was incredible.
We had four sessions in four different compounds so there was one other area that was like max security but their crimes were not as severe. But there was one place that was called “the pit” and this was the one I thought max security would look like, but this was their disciplinary area for the convicts that were trouble and are in these cells for 13 years. Crazy thing is this is what I pictured for a third world country prison. They had like 12 to 14 guys crammed in 4 to 6 person cell. Flys were everywhere and everything smelled and the whole place was sticky. What the compound looked like was we went up this small staircase that led to a long hall of cells with the walls painted green. When we looked in…there were men that crowded around the cell bars to see our faces. Sad thing is we were on one end of the long hall of cells while there were cells that kept continuing and next thing you knew, mirrors were flashing toward us so they could see us. This is what I imagined prison to be like. Not feeling fear at this moment, but the same feeling of being a woman and knowing how they viewed me at first…porn was all over their cell walls and they looked at us as meat. Well, while moving from compound to compound…we lost the PA system. So meredith strapped the guitar on while someone held a megaphone to her mouth so we could begin worship. They wanted upbeat worship at first so we literally just started with worshipping Jesus with Days of Elijah. I was singing and God moved me to just start walking down the hall through the cells with the men reaching out and staring at me. Joey, my teammate, stood beside me while I walked through and went to sing for them and share Jesus. So they could see Jesus love not through a mirror, but in my face and in my worship. God wanted me to take His presence to them. I was fearful at first, but they were so quiet and engaged that Jesus gave me strength to sing with them because the megaphone was not reaching the length of the hall of cells. Then testimonies were shared and then Joey gave a message that just moved big time…JEsus presence invaded these men that had messed up in their past big time and they knew it, but grace and love covers their mistake. The cross covers all those things that put them in that cell. After the preaching, they wanted to continue worship and the men that were with us did this spanish song that was just calling out to Jesus while meredith strummed her guitar and I played the tambourine. It was such an awesome feeling bringing Jesus presence in that moment. I had the opportunity to pray over these men. After that session, their viewpoint toward me I felt changed. I was not a piece of meat or a comparison to the pictures on their wall. I was woman that walked with dignity and confidence in Jesus. They felt it because they wanted to be prayed for and I could tell a seed was planted in that pit.
The prison ministry was amazing and I can not put into words how God moved that day. I spent my day of love, loving on men that needed love not physically, but from God’s love that is so much greater than any love that a person can give you. It is unconditional and everlasting. Our love is not perfect and it can fail people, probably why many of these guys are in prison because they did not get the love they deserved at a young age and never felt unconditional  love in their life. I got to love on men who I knew did not look at me for the right kind of love but got to press Jesus into them! It was one of the coolest experience of my life and feel blessed. I learned many things about walking as a woman that has power in Jesus name, even in a mans world. I know I can be the difference to places I may not feel is my place. I will never forget while worshipping Jesus, men stopping whatever they were doing to listen to us worship and knowing that all eyes were on us and we could be the Jesus some of these men needed to see for maybe the first time in their life! Thankful for being stretched where I feared and given the opportunity to feel Jesus presence where I may least expect it.Â
**So I will include that I am sitting at about $10,000 for my trip. I need another $1,000 by the end of March to stay on the race and I am about $5,500 from being fully funded. If you want to be apart of my trip and what God is doing…please prayerfully consider supporting me. Just hit the support me tab on the left hand side of this blog! It is tax deductible so this is the perfect time! 🙂 Thank YOU!!! 🙂
