My favorite ministry, in Lira, is visiting the prisons. Yesterday we got to visit the female prison. Compared to a prison in the USA, there is hardly any security. Some of the prisoners even get to leave to go to the market or to the hospital when they are sick. It seems like it would be so easy to just run away. If women come to prison when they are pregnant or have really little ones,they are allowed to keep the children with them, while they serve their time.
We got invited to go by a friend of mine, Betty. Our team was at the hospital one day, praying for the sick, and she was there with some of the inmates who have tuberculosis. Betty works at the prison, she is the guard who watches the front gate. She is one of the sweetest people, it seems weird that her job is to guard the compound.
They invited us into a large room, and there were about 30 inmates there. We were all in the room together, standing face-to-face. There were no shackles or hand-cuffs. In one room, all the denominations worship together (muslim, protestant, pentecostal, and catholic). After they greeted us for about an hour, we all sang worship songs together. I loved it! It was super African, with drums, clapping, dancing, and shouting. Afterward, Shannon Morgan, who was on J-squad and who is visiting, shared a word about the importance of women in God's eyes. Then I did a Bible study with them on Song of Songs (chapter 1).
I can't picture these women even doing anything remotely illegal to get themselves put in jail. They all seemed so loving, accepting, genuine, and sweet. I guess that's how God sees us. We do awful things because we sin, and to the world, we should be penalized for our actions. But God doesn't see that, He sees us as beautiful, forgiven, washed clean, and He can't help but love us and want to spend time with us.
I felt sad when I left, because I had the freedom to leave and they didn't. I could see the panic in their eyes as we said goodbye, because they didn't know if we would be back to see them. I love these women…how is it possible to love people you don't even know? I guess it's the power and beauty of God.
This is a similar picture of the men's prison we visited. This one is much larger, but the inmates are dressed the same.
