As we sat with the director of the prison, he shared his heart with us: "Some of the boys are so cold and show no remorse for the most horrendous crimes. It scares me. We need God in this prison."We are at a time where God is opening many doors for us to minister in the youth prisons in the city. Last week we went into two prisons with a DTS outreach team from Norway. It was amazing! As they presented you could tell that the boys were moved, and as we invited them to respond many came forward. There is a real hunger for God in these boys' lives. One boy gave his life to Jesus a month ago, and he was the first to respond in his prison. He is a very coragous boy and you can tell that Jesus transforming his life.
Another time I was talking to a boy was in prison for killing a man. As we talked about freedom, he came to the conclusion that even out of prison he isn't really free "you always have to keep looking over your shoulder in case someone comes to get you" was his reflection.
One boy who was about to be released asked me if I thought God would protect him from the family of the person he'd killed. I said I believed God was with him, but that what he should ask for was for God to give him an opportunity to ask forgiveness from the family. His response was "that is what I most long for. To be able to express to them how sorry I am for what I've done."
These are just a few glimpses of what is going on in the lives of these tough, often quite scarey boys who are in prison. They are human, and they feel. And deep down, what they long for is not just physical freedom from the prison, but a true freedom which can only be found in God.
Pray for this work! Last week one of the coordinators for the board of social services in the city told me he wants us to go into all the prisons. It's amazing to see how God is opening more and more doors. We don't have the capacity, but we are willing to go wherever God would lead us. So pray for God to bring more people with a passion and heart to reach out to the imprisioned. And pray that we won't limit ourselves, but go for it.
