Prison Visit….Setting the Captives Free On the Inside
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” Isaiah 61:1
On Sunday afternoon we drove through beautiful countryside to a prison which held 126 men. I guarantee you that our prison experience was unlike any in the USA! As team of Americans and Ugandans entered the courtyard, all of the prisoners were just sitting on the concrete floor of the front porch in several long rows. We were escorted to a grassy knoll only about 20 feet from them, where Josh, Heather, Virgil and Steve shared the message God put on their hearts. He used each one powerfully to minister His love, His redemption and His salvation—even they themselves later commented they felt a new boldness and anointing as they shared. Our leader, Ugandan Pastor Simon Peter, extended a salvation call and 42 prisoners raised their hands—a much greater number than usual!
What came next were personal ministry time and my deepest experience of God’s love to date. Imagine there were only two guards with machine guns standing about 30 and 50 feet from the prisoners and we were allowed to walk right up to the prisoners, touch them and pray for the sick. Though there was obviously some risk, nobody seemed afraid. Instead, we were overcome with God’s love in a way that completely broke my heart open. God’s love overwhelmed me, like I have never experienced before and I started weeping and calling out to them. “I came 9,000 miles from America to tell you I love you!” As I wept and cried out, at least 50 prisoners looked straight into my eyes and were locked in. I continued in a stronger tone as I cried: “God wants to break the chains off your hearts right here in this prison so that you can feel free. He wants you to know him deep in your hearts!” Their gaze never left me and tears began to well up in many pairs of black eyes. What I saw before my eyes, was the response to the love of God which melted hardness on their faces and brought an instant spirit to spirit connection. It was a God moment.
As the team continued to minister to the prisoners, I saw another member at the back row of prisoners pray. So I also climbed over two rows of men, touching many of them on the head, to get to pray for two in the back row. I felt absolutely no fear, only God’s powerful love pulsing through me I continued to pray with warm tears rolling down my face. It was then that I heard one of my team members say: “Linda, get out of there. You’re not supposed to be back there.” Oops! The men actually extended their hands to help me back to the front where I was “safe.” I then tried to take every hand I could to say: “I love you,” “God loves you,” “God wants you to give Him your heart,” or “You’re my brother and I’ll be praying for you.” They eagerly reached for my hand like true gentlemen often saying: “I love you too, Mom.”
We ended our time at the prison passing out rolls and bars of soap just before the guards ushered them back to their dark cells with no heat, no blankets and living in cramped spaces. I tell you again, the best thing you can do to prepare yourself for ministry is to ask God to give you His heart for the people. His love never fails.
Reporting from Uganda for Show Mercy….
Linda Dodson
We had to share this fun story with you. You might wonder how you
would figure out shoe sizes and shop for so many kids without an official measuring tool. Well, ingenuity isn’t lacking in Uganda. As you can see from the photo, they actually take sticks and break them while holding them next to the feet of the children. They then wrap the child’s name around the stick. Then, they take the sticks to the market and insert the sticks into the shoes until they find a stick that fits into the pair of shoes. Once they find the pair of shoes that the stick fits in, they leave the stick in the shoe, purchase the pair and bring them back to the kids. Have you ever seen anything like that in your life. What a great idea! It is amazing how simple complex tasks can be made when you are dealing with hundreds of children.
getting some new play shoes. We also need to purchase over 100 kids new shoes for school. When children don’t have black shoes that are designed for school, they actually have to go bare foot. They cannot wear tennis shoes or sandals to school. You might remember that we purchased some last year but they have been outgrown and torn apart over the previous year. Each pair of shoes is approximately $10. Would you like to be a part of providing a new pair of school shoes for a child in Uganda? It is such a simple and inexpensive donation that is such an incredibly huge deal for the kids. Can we work together and buy them tomorrow! Please consider purchasing a pair of shoes for one or several children. When we purchase them, we will send some photos showing your purchase.
The above sentence is all I was able to write on my notepad after my first day at Hope Children’s Home and traveling through Gganda village in Uganda. I was not lacking in words, or images—I was already experiencing “sensory overload” from the sights, sounds, smells and many touches of the day! I had cried several times and was moved beyond what I had even imagined I would be so early on in the trip. My shortage of words was simply my heart’s need to process the events of the day more fully. I was somewhat prepared for the life-impacting experience I was coming to Uganda for and I would have been disappointed had I not already felt something happening within me. But what was this wonderful new place in my heart? I thanked God that although I didn’t really know WHAT he was doing in my heart, I was feeling it being enlarged by what I was seeing and feeling. In the night I awakened and heard the Lord speak the word: “calibration.” When I asked Him to explain what he meant, He told me that He was calibrating my heart to feel as His heart feels. Yes, Lord, that is what I want—your heart for these children, this amazing village and the country of Africa where His kingdom IS coming.
This is a place the villagers call “Paradise.” You might not recognize it as such. There is red dirt and amazing mud, and lots of it used for brick making. There are children with many needs. The village is filled with lack. The classrooms are much like places where we could keep livestock, simply constructed from boards the breeze can blow through with only crude benches and desks and chalkboards in need of replacing. But as we say here: TIA—This is Africa, but here the glass is half full. These children have been pulled from horrific circumstances and life has never been better for them. As Stephen toured me through the school, tears welled up in me again. As I stood in one of the bedrooms where triple bunks had made way for more children I was overcome with a love of this place, of these children. Oh, the beauty that is in the simplicity here. We ARE in paradise! How can this be in a place where there is so much lack and we all want to see so much more done?! It is paradise because LOVE is here and we are graciously permitted to have a greater portion of God’s heart! You must come and experience God here!
We want to say thanks to the Santiam team for all of their hard work and service while in Uganda. You always make a great impact on the lives of our kids at Hope. We are very grateful for your service and love. You are, of course, welcome back anytime.