God's Justice, Is Always Restorative Justice

I spent four days in prison and it wasn't long enough.

Prison is everything you would think it is, so you may ask why on earth would anyone chose to spend time there. A combination of circumstances in my life coalesced in such a way that when the opportunity presented itself and the Lord specifically called me to minister to prisoners (there are all types of prisoners), He had already made sure that I knew He was leading me in this direction for some time. He does that...at least in my experience.

This was my first interaction with Kairos and I have to say, unequivocally, the most powerful part was the fact that it brought Catholics, Protestants of every flavor as well as free church/non-denom's together with the mission and message of the Kingdom superseding any other issue. This is as it should be. For eight weeks leading up to the Kairos weekend I got to hang out with, worship with and really get to know some great Brothers in Christ who all had one thing in common, Christ. There was the rare theological rib here and there, but it was always in fun, love and mutual respect. At the end of the day, we are not saved because we believe in the doctrine of salvation by faith, we are saved because we believe that Jesus is Lord. That's the message...that is the reality to which we are conformed and by which we are transformed.

Once we got into the prison, I got the privilege to serve along side a young inmate who was a Jehovah's witness, and he knew his stuff too. He was one of the hardest working guys I've been around in a long time and his attitude really didn't seem to be..."I'm earning my way into God's grace", but rather "this is what we are here to do, by God's grace." I'm cool with that. He has testicular cancer and he needs our prayers.

Another young man was kind of the funny guy and i could tell he had some natural leadership abilities. At first, I didn't think he was taking any of this stuff too seriously. He was like that 'cool' kid in high school who got a lot of attention, but never really had much depth. I think I was wrong...I've got to stop sizing people up like that. After spending some time with him I found that he was very much musically talented, he took an older hymn that we had sung and off the cuff turned it into a rap and kicked a little beatbox action that was nothing less than rhythmic. When we had open mic, he got up in front of the other 35 inmates and let us know that he was in prison for shooting someone 15 times. He then broke down in tears. You see, he had just gotten the news that his mom died the day before. He was carrying that funny popular guy front all day, masking some serious pain. We learn to do that. I thank God that He worked things together in such a way that the young man had us there...can you imagine going through something like that alone, in a cage...He needs our prayers.

While we were there one of our guys was pulled out of the chapel because another inmate accused him of raping him the day before. It was a brutal and abrupt reminder of exactly where we were. Then God showed up, there was another guy who stood up in front of the whole group and shared the fact that he had struggled with homosexual inclinations for a long time and had really given himself over to his impulses. He just didn't feel that it was right, he said, but he had no idea what to do with it. Earlier that day he went into one on one prayer and counseling with one of the clergy that was with us. The Lord showed him some pretty deep things and he joyfully (and publicly) gave it over to the Lord...declaring that one day when he gets out, the Lord had prepared a wife for him somewhere and had started the healing process in him to overcome the fear of women he had been harboring for so long. That's some serious stuff to pour out in the midst of a group of hardcore felons, but that is exactly the graceful, loving atmosphere the Lord provided...there in this maximum security prison. That man needs our prayers.

These are just some of things I witnessed...not to mention...the food was amazing, the messages delivered by the men on the Kairos team were honest and raw, allowing God's light to shine ever brighter, the fellowship as we camped out on mats at a local church was great, took showers in a trailer with no roof in the parking lot (I never figured out how to make the water hot), prayed over each days events and for the families of everyone involved and really spent some honest alone time with Father... listening, learning... waiting on the Lord...and hollering 'Here I am' when He calls...that's grace at work and I was so blessed to witness it and be caught up in it. SDG

Please join me in praying that the Lord continue to work in the lives of these men and that the seeds planted take root in that place.