Life in Prison (Spiritual)

The spiritual situation in the prison was about what we had seen in others. There are churches that have set up ministries in the prisons and there are actually several prisons that have churches that are set up inside the prisons themselves. There is a good portion of the population that had already become Christians, but there is still a need for salvation behind the walls of the prisons here. 

There is medically very little that we can actually do. We are limited by resources and time. We are able to give enough medication for a month, but if someone has a lifelong disease such as diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. the solutions we offer are only temporary. For things like infections, we can cure them for the time being, but the return. It can be a very depressing realization if one is only looking at the short term. 

When we look at life as a big pictures, we see that life itself is a fatal disease. Every person that is born will eventually succumb to this disease and die. How very depressing this can be. But thankfully we don't stop there. One of my favorite verses in the entire Bible is Luke 4:18-19:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me 

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

In my opinion, this is one of the most relevant verses in the Bible for why we do prison outreach. This talks about Jesus' mission here on earth. This is our mission. When it talks about prisoners, it is not only talking about those who are in prison, but those who are also enslaved to sin.

I was able to share part of my testimony with one of the women. I told her that there was a point in my life that I was more imprisoned than any of the prisoners in Bani. That there were people within the walls of that prison that were far freer than I had been. But through Christ, I was set free from my bondage and no lived a life of freedom. This may seem very trivial or flippant to those who do not understand, but those who have experienced this, they understand completely. I have met so many individuals who are in prison, but are more free than people on the outside could ever imagine. 

We go to the prisons to provide medical services, yes, but we have a higher calling. We have a hope and healing that medicine alone cannot offer. 

When I asked one patient if she was a Christian, she looked panicked and asked if we would still treat her if she were not. I assured her that we did not discriminate based on religious belief, but asked her instead if I could pray for her. Even among those who did not chose to accept Christ, we did not have one person refuse to have us pray with them. 

One of the things that I heard quite a few times from some of the inmates is that they went to church but were not yet a Christian. When I asked them to clarify this several responded saying that they were not yet perfect, so they were waiting to be until they were perfect to become a Christian. I explained that God wants them where they are, not perfect. God is the one that makes us perfect, we are incapable of perfection on our own. When I told one man that I wasn't perfect and still a Christian, he called me weak. I told him that was true, I am weak and that I am make strong through Christ. 

I don't have the exact numbers, but I would estimate that around 150 came to Christ last week. Thankfully, there are churches that already have ministry set up to do discipleship. 

Please pray that God would continue to cultivate the seed that was planted.