Saturday morning we walked down the very uneven, dirt pathway to the big black gate that served as the doors into the girls prison. We waited at the door for the guards to let us pass through into the outer courtyard. What had always been just a plain courtyard for as long as we had been coming, was now lined with beautiful flowers and shrubbery. Over the past month we had noticed this simple transformation that spoke of a greater transformation, one just as beautiful as the vibrant new gardens that splashed colors of life in what society might see as a lifeless institution.
Three of the girls we have come to cherish and love were out in the courtyard raking and sweeping. As soon as they saw us, they came running at us, laughing and chattering, teasing us about this and that as they greeted us with the kind of hugs that sisters give each other when they haven’t seen one another in forever. They truly are so precious. Each girl has a beautiful name and face; each girl has a story of untold hurt and tragedy; each girl is marked by the injustices of life; and each girl has dreams for a beautiful, hope-filled future. I love the way this Latin culture greets one another - it’s always with a kiss on the cheek. Each time we get to kiss each of the girls, it’s as if we are kissing the beauty and the hope and the value and the dreams back to life. It’s as if we are saying, “I see your outer appearance, all your scars, all your protective walls that try to keep love out. And I love you in spite of all of that, because I see something else. I see the light that is inside of you, a glimmer but still alive. I see the beautiful girl that longs to dance in the freedom of love.”
From there, we walked hand in hand into where the other girls were waiting for us. Again, I am so blown away by the simple things that mark the transformation that has been taking place. Just a few short months ago we might might have been greeted by a few girls as we set up for the art program, some might just wave without any sign of excitement, some might just walk off and pretend they didn’t see us, and it would take a good 20 minutes to actually get all the girls in the room and sitting down. Now, as soon as we come, they all come running to greet us and are ready for us by the time we get into the room where we do our activities. They are ready and eager for whatever the day holds.
This Saturday we wanted to celebrate. We wanted to celebrate everything that had happened in the girls lives - the moments of breakthrough where we all wept as the Holy Spirit healed their hearts, and the moments of freedom where we all danced and spun around the room as the Holy Spirit set them free. We wanted to celebrate our relationships - the love and friendship that had bloomed through the simplicity of being with one another. Basically, we wanted to celebrate life together. So that looked like running around like crazies, doing a whole assortment of races and relay games; we definitely drew out the competitive side in the girls! But we had so much fun just playing together. And then having chocolate cake and soda together in the dining room where they had decked the place out with balloons and art work.
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| Gifts the girls made for us |
Then they surprised us. And for the next half hour I was completely undone by love.
As one girl after the next stood up in front of the other 37 girls, to present us with a gift that they had made for us and a word of what we meant to them, I was hit with a wave of Jesus’ love. This is what it looked like - She would raise her hand to speak next, and once called upon, she would scoot her chair back, get up and walk around the table so that she could stand and face all of us. She came with nervous giggles from having to speak in front of so many people, but a strong resolve to say what she wanted to say. As she started to speak, looking into our faces, she choked on tears and couldn’t continue. After a few words from us encouraging her, she continued in a wavering voice. “I want to thank all of you for giving up your lives and your homes to come here to be with us. Before you came, I felt so alone here. I didn’t know what love was like. But every time you came I felt love. I saw that God was real. I know I’m not alone now. I know that I can have dreams. You helped me learn all of this.” With that she handed one us the gift she made and then gave each one of us a hug, tears still streaming down her face.
This happened again, and again, and again. I lost track of how many girls shared their testimonies and thanked us for loving them.
It didn’t even feel real. We are in a girls prison right now? These are girls that have sold drugs, robbed, murdered and who else know what? These girls? The ones who are sobbing in our arms, thanking us for loving them? It felt more like testimonies from a revival meeting. The prayers that they prayed were more powerful than a lot of prayers you hear in churches. How could this be happening here?
And another thing... I have felt so inadequate. Each time I have come to the prison, I have felt like - what do I really have to offer? I speak Spanish, but not well enough to really know these girls and be able to speak into their lives personally. I have not known the right words to say even with a translator. I have wanted to pray for and see crazy miracles and breakthroughs. But mostly it has been sitting with one of the girls as she paints. Or walking around the tables and praying, saying how beautiful their art is and smiling at each girl. I have spent one-on-one time with a handful of girls, but many of them I don’t know that I have ever had a conversation with them. But to my surprise it was those girls that told me specifically how I changed their lives.
It makes you realize a lot about the Jesus that we serve. He isn’t spending all His time in church. He isn’t standing behind a pulpit preaching. He is in the prisons, in the red-light districts, in the slums, in the nursing homes. He spends His time simply sitting with the broken, not offering advice like a counselor in an office. His love truly is enough! The most hopeless situations are His specialty. He loves using dirt to make something beautiful or mud to heal blind eyes. And He asks us to join us in that place. We don’t have to be something special to sit in the dirt with Him, or even influence influential leaders with Him. It doesn’t matter who or where, Him in us is always enough.
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