"I was in prison and you visited me"...(continued)

We followed the "Inside Angels" to the Chapel where our retreat would be held for the next 3 1/2 days. The room had been set up with 4 large round tables. At these tables 3 team members and 6 inmates would establish a "family" over the duration of the weekend.

The "Inside Angels" had already been praying over this room and the presence of Holy Spirit was evident. They wore those smiling, radiant faces for a reason. They had already been in the presence of God just has Moses had when he came down off Mount Sinai with his face so radiant because of his encounter with God.

In my naivety I expected to bring God to prison, but I found that he was already there. This became more evident over the next 3 1/2 days. Not that it wasn't important for us to go inside as volunteers from the "free world", for he used us to show the "ladies" who had lost hope that he loved and cared for them. We were his legs, arms, tongue and hands; his legs to carry the message of his love inside, his arms to hug someone who needed just that, his tongue to speak words of comfort and tenderness and his hands to caress and wipe away tears of sadness.

By Sunday, the"families" at each table were united in the knowledge that they were not forgotten. And that inspite of the fact that they were prisoners, they were totally free in Christ.

I left that institution a changed women. I now understood what Jesus meant when he said, "I was in prison and you visited me." Bars and razor wire may separate an individual from the "free world", but nothing can keep Jesus out. And sometimes he uses willing people to help the inmate be aware of his presence. I am grateful that he chooses to use me............................Shalom, Bebe