Prison Report: Caught Off Guard

I never know what to expect when I go to the weekly ministry at the prison. I'm never sure how many prisoners will come to the meeting, or even whether the guards at the front gate will remember to relay the message to the guards on the inside to let the prisoners come to the meeting room. There are times I arrive at the meeting to be informed that one of the prisoners has been released and sent home. There's rarely any chance for good-byes. "Until we meet again...next week, or...?" About the time some leave or drop out, I'm informed of others who want to be added to the list I have to keep updated with the prison officials, letting them know who I will let come to my meetings.

This week, the surprise came after the meetings with the ladies and with the men. For years, I was the only one ministering to the men, then changes were made in the way the prisons are run, and now there are at least two other groups going in adjoining rooms at the same time every Monday, one a Pentecostal church group, and in the other a Jehovah's Witness meets with a prisoner. The other pastors left before I did, so after the men were taken out of the meeting area, I waited for the guard to let me out. He didn't let me out. He wanted to talk.

For another 15-20 minutes I answered questions and shared with the guard. I didn't remember seeing him before, but he admitted that his mother had taught catechism in a town west of Funchal, but as he grew up he began to think on his own. At one point I told him that salvation is a gift from God. "How do we get it?" he asked. I asked him what he would do if I offered him a present. "I would just say thank you and take it," he replied. "Exactly! And that's how we receive salvation." "It's that simple?" It's so simple, it becomes difficult for people, I told him.

With the rotating schedules of the guards, I don't when I'll see him again, but it brought home to me the point I have often made to the prisoners in the meetings. I tell them to stop complaining about the guards and the prison officials, and to start praying for them.

One of the memorable incidents over the years was the time I was standing at the front gate with the guards, waiting to be taken in to the meeting. One of the guards who most often was detailed to observe our meetings was in the guard room getting papers together. Suddenly I hear these words being sung (in English!) "This is the day, this is the day that the Lord hath made..." We always sing in English, and he had heard that song sung so often (the prisoners want to sing it every week) that he had learned it in English.

The ministry isn't just for the prisoners, after all.