“Out of sight, out of mind.” This is unfortunately the mindset that many have when it comes to the incarcerated. They are certainly an unreached people group.
For the most part, they are unengaged. This is because they have little to no contact with the outside world. Then, the kind of contact they do get is either on a screen or through the guards so there is always a liaison-never a private moment.
There are no private moments for those who are incarcerated. This can really hinder what we would call intimacy. Their personal connection to people is broken because they cannot engage in relationships in a way that is fulfilling.
Now, as far as the incarcerated being unreached, not just anyone can provide that missing connection, even if they are a believer in Jesus. The kind of help that is needed will come only through disciple makers. They are the only ones that can help a person receive the kind of connection each person is created for, because Christ is the one they need to interface with.
So realistically, what is happening is that God is boxing them in. He is exposing the lack and void in their hearts and revealing Himself as the answer. He is the One they can develop a true connection with from anywhere, at any time, and from any place. The most valuable part is being able to do that.
For those wanting to help with this connection, not everyone that wants to go into a prison will be cleared. Each facility in the United States has its own process and it looks different across the board. Imagine your basic federal background checks and clearances in that regard. It is going to be high scrutiny and you will need to be clean, meaning without a criminal record yourself, to be approved to go in a facility in the first place.
Next you will need to complete various training courses provided by the facility. Every volunteer interacting with inmates must understand the liabilities and that they are putting themselves at risk. It is a different dynamic when it comes to being able to reach them. In most facilities, physical contact is not permitted-meaning that even hugs are not allowed.
You are constantly having to be a sheep among wolves, not just within the system of the actual prison, but against the actual enemy himself that can manifest through the incarcerated people or inmates. Some will-in fact-use you to get what they want. Not everyone is a person of peace. You must really be reliant upon God to determine if the person in front of you is really seeking God or if they are looking to manipulate you to accomplish their agendas.
Those agendas are ultimately to get out of jail or prison. That is another layer within itself. You must allow yourself to be aware of that reality, but not to be jaded by it. That is the environment you are signing up to walk into. Whenever you go inside of a facility, know that you are outnumbered, but you are not outmatched.
All right, this one is unique because we have appointed meetings. So, what that means is I can only interface with them inside of a meeting setting. So that means for one hour we are doing a Bible study.
That is the purpose of my visit as a volunteer and that is what we are there to do. Within that is where simple serious and spiritual conversations occur. Rather than just jumping straight into a discovery Bible study, we start to lay a foundation of relationship by connecting with them in an authentic way and what they are presently going through.
We ask the discovery questions as conversational pieces. An example would be, “What’s one thing that you guys are thankful for today?” Or “What is one thing you are worried about or struggling with?” Once those things are out on the table, we can share an applicable Bible story. In other words, it can be as simple as, “What you just shared reminds me of the story of Joseph. Are you familiar with Joseph in the Bible?”
Some of them may nod, yes. Then I might add, “Well, what was interesting about Joseph is that he was sold into slavery by his brothers. And you are not going to believe this, but he was what we would call the favorite son. You ever had a sibling that was considered the favorite?”
Usually that produces laughter. So, we are breaking down walls while telling a story. We would tell that story and then see where that leads. It could go from there into what we would know as a discovery Bible study. That would set it up to where they are able to see how the “story” can benefit them.
They may begin to think “This is interesting. Or this is wonderful.” And I respond, “Yeah, if you guys would like to know more, I have a story right here that I’d like to read with you today.”
Of course, the response is usually positive. That is where we would be able to pull out something like Psalm 23. That chapter specifically is a great introduction to the discovery process and to gauge where the person is spiritually.
I also like to use Proverbs 3 as it speaks about trusting in the Lord. All of what we have mentioned so far is all laying down foundation to see who is going to be the person of peace. Who inside of these rooms would take this Bible study to others inside.
We make sure to introduce the discovery process as a process. Whoever responds well to the story we will ask the discovery questions. We ask the questions, “What does this say about God? What does this say about man? With what we have read today from the story, what can we specifically change in our lives? Who can you share this process
We would give them a copy of the seven discovery questions that make up what we call the “discovery journal.”
Next, they will take that and go back and do it with other people within the actual cells and beyond to even larger groups.
This is what has been happening inside the Bible studies we are hosting. The ones that have really resonated with the discovery process are taking the stories and doing them- not only with each other-but offering to do them with the guards and with their families through their online and one-on-one visits. It has been quite amazing to watch them realize that this is how you can listen and learn from God; this is how you can follow Him your entire life. You can have a front row seat to His actual teaching. And this is how we do that.
All right, this one is a near and dear question to my heart, because hostility goes beyond regions. Obviously, it is the demonic forces in a region that influence hostility. Scripture says, “The kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force.” You are always going to be met with hostility when it comes to challenging authority and challenging territory, which is basically given authority. So, if there are demonic forces or principalities and powers over the territory, it is because they have the authority in that place.
Anytime a person is challenging the authorities of a region (by taking it back for the kingdom of God through the gospel) there will automatically be opposition. The Gospel is planting down roots and declaring “This region belongs to Christ, and we are here to collect what’s due.” This is consistent across the entire world. But in comparison to actual prisons and jails that are connected to the Middle East, it is because of the way of government.
When we think of the government’s facilities and the way that they are done in the Middle East, it is a totalitarian approach. The inmates do not have rights. They are allowed the basic human needs such as food, water, and shelter, but anything of comfort and luxury is not required and will not be provided.
In this way you will find that the system itself is designed to break people. The word “penitentiary” comes from the word “penance,” and it is designed for them to understand that this is not the way of life. This is not what was supposed to happen, and it is not a way to live.
What ends up happening is they gain the understanding that life needs to be more than this. They conclude, “I do not want to live here. I do not want this to be my home. I do not want this to be my lifestyle.”
It is the same in the Middle East when it comes to the totalitarian approach. Governments in this area present “This is the way that you will live and the way you will not live and if you do not follow the way of life, you will be punished.” Some of those punishments can be even unto death, where in the prison system it can be unto death with time.
So if you’re serving a sentence say for 10 years and you get into trouble and you are rebellious and continue to violate the rules of the prison, they can tack on and punish more by giving more time and so on and so forth to where it could land you with actually dying in prison.
I see many similarities between being in highly restricted nations and being in the prison system. Both are places where-because they are governed a certain way-not everyone will be able to work inside the areas and comply with that kind of government. There will be issues of conscience. There will be issues of just conviction, of what is tolerable and what is not.
Within the Middle East and within jails and prisons you are underneath the lordship of the system, and that system is certainly broken, meaning that it is being governed by control. Anytime there is control there is containment and that is the opposite of how we were made to be as images of God. We were created to have freedom and liberty. We were created to be trusted and released to steward the things that God has provided us, including relationships with those around us.
When living in these environments, you are a slave to the system. That kind of slavery produces hostility both towards the people you are surrounded by, as well as those operating the system you are under. This would be the officers, sergeants, the very politicians, and bureaucrats that make the laws and cause things to be a certain way. Humanity is poor at governing other humans.
Humans governing humans is a tough situation, but God governing humans produces beauty and peace because there is not one party of people trying to control the other.
That is the greatest similarity.
When people receive the good news of the Gospel, though times are tough and the government you are living under is difficult, they know it will not always be this way. One day there is coming a Righteous One that is going to rule from Zion. He will, in fact, disciple the nations in a way that is righteous and leads to nothing but love, joy, and peace forevermore. We read this in Isaiah 2, and it is the hope that is set before us; that the return of that King will be the One who inaugurates the ultimate system that is perfect.
This is a wonderful question. It is simpler to find God needs than one might expect. The reason it is sometimes challenging is because there is broken trust in people’s lives already.
They come in with broken trust from the ways that they are treated by their families, due to actual crimes that they have committed or the past that they are having to reconcile. They are already in a place of broken trust. That transfers to every relationship, from their actual cellmates to the people that are interacting with them inside. But then this also goes to the officers, the guards, their lawyers, and everyone involved in getting them in and out of the system.
Broken trust is there because they came with it, and it is something that multiplies. So, if they are going to be open, there must be a person of trust they attach to before there is going to be a God need really shown.
What is unique is that whenever there are groups such as the Bible studies inside the jails and the prisons, they become places for men to come. There will not be men and women in the same rooms, so it is a safe place. It is what we call a “safe haven.”
And in that haven, if trust has been built with the facilitators and those hosting the meetings, then God needs will be discovered. People will be open when they feel they are safe. This is a priority for us. In other words, confidentiality, respect, and honesty are all imperative. Obviously, violence of any kind is prohibited; any of that will disqualify you from the group.
Because those outlines are given, trust is developed very quickly. My personal first step is that I will go in and share my testimony. I help them to see that I am just like them.
I am no different than they are. I have been in the positions that they are in, to different degrees, but we are the same. I share that even though I am not there with them serving time, this does not mean that I am not in a different kind of prison mentally.
I explain that the only way I have been able to see a way out is that I had to have something more constant in my life than the people that I called my family and friends. I had to have something more because they had all failed me.
And then here is what is worse: I failed myself. I cannot even trust myself. We must be honest with our own humanity to build a foundation of trust.
And once they can relate and identify, then God needs are more readily shared. They are looking to have help from the people they know and trust. And that is the synopsis of it, but simple for sure. Those that are coming to these meetings want to be there. The reason they want to be there can be varied. They may want to take a break from their cells, or cause conflict and stir things up. Or they may genuinely want help.
It is a beautiful thing that we get to see that happen. When God needs are shared, it causes a domino effect. Whenever one shares multiple people end up sharing and the meeting is turned over to the inmates themselves.
