Prison Ministry

Written by Warren |Posted on December 9, 2008 | Comments

This afternoon I went with Bro.Norman (see attached picture), to his prison ministry. It was my first time to be with him and to be in this kind of ministry. When we entered the area I was informed that I needed a permit for my camera. I thought I will take pictures some other time so I didn’t bother to bring my camera inside with me. When we entered the area we saw a small neighborhood of prisoners. I was surrounded by law-breakers, half-naked, some are homosexual, tatooed-filled bodies, burnt skin, etc. Out of fear, I immediately hid my wallet in my bag for safety. Several folks approached Bro.Norman having a quick chat. They were still hospitable and shook my hands welcoming me. I had to smile but still wasn’t certain how to talk to them. I’m afraid that with my inexperienced lips I might say something offensive and I’d be getting it for the day. All I was thinking was of all places I hope God won’t put me in here.

There were two floors for the prison cells. There were even part of the cell that was converted to a convenience store owned by the prison guards but ran by the prisoners. The guards know how to take advantage of the prisoners all right. We didn’t stayed long because there was a special event going on so I will blog more about the details next time I do another visit there.

Bro.Norman was visiting the place for 3x a week doing evangelistic meetings. This year was his 3rd year of visiting the place. He was a former prisoner but was out only on parole. I was inspired when I saw what he was doing for the in-mates. Normally people grew up in a setting in fear of thieves, rapists, murderers, etc. These are the kind of people that most would avoid. Seeing them behind bars would be a sense of relief and security. But regardless of what they did on earth, they are still sinners like us. And they need to hear the gospel.

This reminded me of the parable of the tares (Mt 13) wherein we couldn’t tell who the tares are among the wheat because they looked very similar. In this context, Jesus says that the wheat are the Christians while the tares are the sons of the devil. And the problem is they looked almost exactly the same. But it is not our job to tell who is a Christian and who is not. Jesus said that the angels will be doing the sorting of the wheat and tares and not us. Then the tares will be gathered together by the angels and thrown into the fire (Mt 13:41-42). Its just amazing to see that we don’t have to do the sorting. That will be the job of the angels; We were not called by Christ to say to someone “you’re a Christian” and to another “you’re not a Christian.” No, but we are here to preach the gospel of Christ. And we do not know if there are “wheat” inside the prison ward. But regardless, we must be reminded that not all prisoners are tares. Therefore the gospel must be preached to them as well.