"Then the righteous will
answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or
thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You
in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison,
and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly,
I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My
brethren, you did it to Me.'" (Matthew 25:37-40 NKJV)
One of the
life-changing opportunities that I have had on mission trips to
Nicaragua is to visit some of the prisons there. Going there each time
has had a profound effect on me spiritually and emotionally. We go with
a local pastor who visits and cares for these men and women, and many of
them have found Christ and are now Christians. This pastor is a man of
God with such a heart for Jesus, and he just shines. He is not a rich
man, and in fact, sometimes, he can hardly afford the gas to drive
there. He is supported by a small church in rural Ontario, Canada.
The inmates' families
have to supply their loved ones with toilet paper and some of the food
each day, so on our visits, we brought bottles of soda pop, bananas, and
toilet paper for everyone. At the first prison that we went to, I stayed
out and organized into little bags the pop and supplies that we had
brought, while others ministered and prayed with some of the men and
women. Then as a whole group, we went down the ramp into the darker area
of the jail. There is a hierarchy of order in the cells, so we were told
to give the supplies to each cell boss, and he or she would reach out,
take the bags, and give them to their cell mates.
The prison was very
overcrowded with 25 to 30 men in one cell but only four to six beds.
The beds had springs but no mattresses. There
were five cells in that jail, and one of the cells was for the women.
They sleep on the dirty floors, and if they are lucky, a piece of
cardboard. If the prison allows it, we can and do bring the milk bag
mats for them to sleep on. In that jail, there was no exercise yard.
Some of the men are tattooed, and there is a smell of human sweat and
other odours in the air. We received catcalls and were obviously a form
of entertainment in their dreary existence. We smiled at them and went
around to each cell handing out the supplies.
When we were done
handing out the gifts that we had brought, before we departed, we got
together as a group of women and started to sing God's praises to the
men and women in that place. Almost instantly, the noise stopped, and we
could all feel the presence of God as we sang in harmony and in a round
the words, Father, Jesus, Spirit, I adore You, Lay my life before You,
How I love You.
Simple words, but oh! So powerful. The Holy
Spirit was with us, protecting us and guiding us. As we sang praises to
our King, a holy hush fell on that dirty jail. Into that dark jail, we
brought more of God's light. It was already there, but it shone brighter
that day because we had visited.
Is God calling you to
step out of your comfort zone and go into the darkness?
Prayer: Father, our
hearts are full of tears for the brokenness in us all and for our need
of Jesus, our Lord and our Saviour. We give thanks for those who witness
to prisoners and bring them the good news of our hope in Jesus Christ.
May more of us answer Your call to mission, which leads us into places
where You are needing us to go. Amen.
Liz Samis
Elmira, Ontario, Canada
