"Someone, Somewhere Is Praying For You"
( One man behind the cell led a large group of 20-25 men in worship as they sang to me…)
11-24-11
Prison Ministry @ the Malaybalay County Jail
The cries from behind the bars of a jail cell of those who feel unforgiven, unworthy, and undeserving of God’s grace are beckoning and knocking at my heart and soul…I can’t sit and be quiet anymore.
Today, some of our group here in Malaybalay went to the jail to do some ministry. We all went to visit some adolesent boys who were in the jail to minister and share some words from God with them, with the ministry we are working with ( New Life).
When we walked in the prison, I we passed several cells of men. Some of the cells had to have had around 30 men or more in them. I glanced around and expected to see something different…I was expecting to show up and feel darkness, but instead God showed me light. He showed me that there was light in all of his creation today, and that nothing he created was a mistake. Scriptures were written on the walls, and on bedposts of the men. I even walked in to one man playing guitar.
Before going I prayed for God to fill me with the Holy Spirit and protection. I prayed for God to make me a light today…as I was running earlier this morning…
When you pray these prayers, expect God to do just that.
After we came in, and the teenage boys came and sat down on benches after introducing themselves, they shared words from scripture from their Bibles. I was greatly encouraged how they were reading scriptures and all of them had Bibles.
However, as a few other members from my group began to share, God led me to a scripture and thoughts started to go through my head as the Lord spoke to me…
“Who will care about the Men, and Women in all of these cells that don’t know me?” ,
“Who will be bold and share my message of salvation, grace, and love with them?”
“What about the lost and the broken?”
My heart started to beat faster and my thoughts were racing…As others were sharing I beckoned with God…
“ Can’t I just sit here comfortably and share this verse with the boys here on this bench?” At one point I even said that I had something to share after another team member was sharing…It was then that God told me I had to do it…So I whispered over to Jodi, “ Is there a translator I can bring with me?” Then she told me I could bring one of the men with me that came with her who could translate…I started to shake as God filled me with the Holy Spirit….
Me…?Really…? I knew that the Lord was calling me to share with these men about Paul from 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10. So the Holy Spirit showed up and spoke through me…I shared parts of my testimony & story with these men, and I shared with them about the apostle Paul. I spoke to them about how he killed Christians but the Lord used him in mighty ways as an Apostle to share the word & the crazy love of Jesus with others. I told them that they were what God was looking for to pour out his love, and grace on them….that his grace was sufficient enough for them, and it was in their weakness that God could dwell. After sharing with them about the Lord’s love for them, I asked them who wanted to recieve Christ. Hand after hand shot up in the cell. WOW…I said to myself…
Then I prayed outloud for them as they accepted Christ. Tears of some welled up and looked at me from where they were. My heart was beating as Christ’s heart today. I didn’t understand why or how God used me in the cell but he did. Today I realized what breathing fire looks like. What it looked like to just step out in faith and obey what God was calling me to do. I don’t even know what I was saying but I know that God was speaking through me and telling me to say it loudly and proudly! This day marked a day of boldness as I shouted God’s words so as many as possible could hear me throughout the cells….I saw more and more men gather closer as I spoke.
Then I moved to the cell next to it…One man in particular that I had seen with the guitar led the whole cell in a hymn of praise.Tt was beautiful. I realized that I had no words as they sung the song; “Someone somewhere is praying for you”. They were ministering to me. In my fears of being a woman standing there preaching to these men, they started singing to me about someone praying for me. It was so encouraging to me to see all of these men sing. Then after they shared the Lord led me to a verse in Ephesians, Pauls prayer for them…& I told them to imagine the ocean and how wide, and deep it is…(Ephesians 3: 14-19). How if you look out onto the horizon, you can’t see where it stops. I told them that that’s what God’s love for them looked like. Then I told them to imagine the west side of the sky, and then the east, and told them that God’s love went way further than they could imagine…Then another man raised his hand to accept Christ in that cell….I prayed over them before going over to the women’s call.
As I walked passed several more cells, I was lead to the end of a hallway where there were a few woman…I couldn’t imagine being one of these woman here in this jail…My heart felt like it was breaking in two.
One woman in particular stood out to me…and as I was talking I knew that she was the one God wanted me to talk to. God spoke to my heart about what to share with her. I shared about knowing who Jesus was but not understanding having a relationship with him. I shared about my testimony and how I had always replaced the void that the Lord was supposed to fill with other things…including some of my co-dependency issues and previous issues with drinking.The woman started to well up in tears..then as I told her to get her bible I reminded her of how much she was loved and read to her Psalm 139, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made….MJ cried and I asked her if she had wanted to recieve Christ. She said yes and as tears rolled down her cheek as I offered to pray for her. I told her how beautiful she was and reminded her that God loved her. I held her hand as I prayed for her and it seemed that she didn’t ever want me to let go of her hand. As I walked away the tears kept falling. I told her that I would pray for her…Before leaving I didn’t know why, but I had written scripture on a notecard with a picture of a sun rising…I had two scriptures on the card ( New creation in Christ, and God Hath made Sin…2 Corinthians 5:17 and 2 Corinthians 5:21) It broke my heart to see her sadness…but as I asked her if she knew God loved her and that she was beautiful..she looked back at me through the tears and said “ I know…” with a half smile….
Today I know that after leaving the Malaybalay County Jail, I didn’t leave it there the same way it was when I came in…I didn’t leave the same either. God broke my heart…and I will never be the same. This Thanksgiving day was unlike any other because I was able to pray for these men and one woman to recieve Christ…
My heart is thankful that through Christ who lives in me, I could share some truth and be a light in the MCJ today…
I will be visiting them again before leaving…so please keep them & me (for strength from Christ) in prayer!
( Names changed for privacy)
