Proclaim Liberty Series: From Handcuffs to Christ

March 2013, I had a car accident while being under the influence of alcohol. I was not wearing a seatbelt and was traveling over 60 mph. I was in a Dodge Durango R/T. I called it the silver bullet due to its shape and color. When I wrecked the silver bullet it rolled several times, and I was thrown through the passenger side window headfirst. By the grace of God, I did not die or have any major injuries. I had many shards of glass in my head, and they would remain for the next 5 years. I could not call anyone because my phone was lost. 

Take Responsibility 

I was walking down a 2-lane highway in the middle of nowhere back to my house. It was approximately 5 miles. As I was walking a car stopped and offered to help me at 2:00a.m. The person driving the car was Cory. He asked me if I was ok, and if I needed anything. I said “yes, I need to go home to inform my roommate what has happened”. I did and said, ” I must go back to the car and take responsibility for my accident”. This was an overwhelming conviction as if I did not have a choice.  

Once I arrived at the scene my vehicle was on the tow truck with a police officer completing paperwork. I approached the police car and knocked on the window to inform the officer that the vehicle belonged to me. At this point, the officer asked me if I had been drinking and I said “yes, a few”. He then took me through several field sobriety tests, and I seemed to have passed them all.  

Hand-Cuffed and Under Arrest 

However, he then asked me to take a breathalyzer test and I consented. After this test the officer told me to put my hands behind my back as I was under arrest. This was a watershed moment for me as I had never been arrested in my life. Here I am 24 years old and going to jail.

They took me to jail, and I spent the night there. I will never forget that night. I remember the lyrics and music that was playing at the time Bruno Mars,  “I should have bought you flowers”. I remember the words of my mom and dad as a youth. “If you go to jail, do not call me because I am not coming”.  

Never Get Out 

I also realized even if I did want to call someone else, I could not dial them because I did not know their phone numbers and my phone was lost. So, in my mind I had made peace with the fact that I may never get out because how could I if no one knows I am here. It felt as if my whole life had ended.  

The next morning, I had an officer come and tell me that I was being released on bail. All I could think was who could have bailed me out? It was my roommate. At this moment, I will never forget the gratitude I had and the desire to do anything to show that. After this moment I was sentenced for Driving Under the Influence. My license was suspended for 1 year. I was sentenced to attend 3 meetings of a 12 Step Program, and M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers).  

Powerless Over Alcohol

In January 2014, my life changed forever. I attended my first meeting of the 12-step program, and it was at this moment I understood my great malady and decided to get sober due to understanding I was powerless over alcohol and my life had become unmanageable. This journey led me to being involved in the community and working on myself from within by the grace of God.  

One major way to show my gratitude was through service. It was then I learned about all the different service roles that were offered. This is when I was introduced to facilitating the meetings I had experienced outside to inside the jail to those that could not come to a meeting freely. I was sharing with them for 2 years my experience, strength, and hope to recovery with God and the vigorous internal work of the heart and mind. This was a way for me to give away freely what had been given to me by God.  

I Surrender 

In May of 2016 I surrendered my life to Christ due to this journey and reading God’s word for the first time. August 2016 is when I was introduced to the chaplain and became a service volunteer facilitating Bible Studies with the incarcerated. My life has been so full of joy when I see the transformation God is doing amongst the incarcerated in the way He did in my life. It is a place where I am privileged to have access to give hope to the hopeless and strength to the forgotten. 

Were You Called to Prison Ministry?

I first elected to serve by saying yes to an opportunity. Ultimately, I am called to reach the least amongst the lost. 

I was in Prison and You Came (Matthew 25:31-40) 
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ 

How Did You Know Prisons Would Be Your Harvest Field?

Matthew 10:5-6, These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Go to the Lost Sheep

Matthew 10:5-6 Jesus directs His disciples to specifically go to Israel to reach His “lost sheep”. This parallel to prison ministry is certainly obvious and refreshing. If I see the directions of Jesus as what is important to Him, I see it’s His people Israel and the lost. However, not just anyone will be able to reach them due to being a Gentile. An outsider or foreigner that has difficulty relating or empathizing with them. The prison ministry for me is a place where I belong because I was once incarcerated myself.

Jesus will send us to the people we can relate to; to keep us humble. In other words, do not forget where you came from or what God brought you out of. This is clearly what we see in Moses when He is selected to go to Egypt to petition Pharoah to “let my people go.”  The purpose of this strategy located in Matthew 10:5-6 is to plant a silhouette of the Name of God demonstrated in the life of Christ Jesus.

The excuse that “no one cares” is one of the greatest laments for the incarcerated. When they see someone who walked a similar road this becomes a witness to the character, reputation, and authority of God. God will prove that: He sees and hears them. This happens all the time inside of prisons.  

How? Servants like me who have been delivered out of the same pit they find themselves in. It proves to them the possibility of it happening for them. Secondly, the evidence of the certainty of Gods power. Too many struggle in this life with a lack of understanding their identity. How much more than does a prisoner being lectured or educated by someone who cannot relate or understand? This creates a wedge between them due to feeling condemned and looked down upon as less than. This perception is the most common response I hear from prisoners.

Yes, they are criminals. However, all humans aside from our Lord Jesus is a criminal in the eyes of God. Therefore, when they see we are equal, a background like theirs, and fearless in the light of their sin and darkness, it solidifies trust. This trust provides solidarity and love for each other, the officers, and their families. This is the kind of impact I see Jesus doing in the Bible. This is the reason I know it is a harvest field that is ripe and ready. May the Lord of the harvest grant more laborers in the days ahead for His glory.  

2 Corinthians 5:18-21 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

Matthew 19:25-26 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 

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