To most people, 'jail' and 'prison' are one in the same. Somebody will talk about their sister's daughter's husband who has been in jail for the last four years. Actually, they were in jail till their trial and then they were sent to prison. They are not at all the same. Jail is temporary. Very short term sentences or awaiting trial. There is still hope. The magnitude of what could be coming hasn't really sunk in yet, especially to the new criminal. Prison, by contrast, is a different ballgame. Prison is a harsh reality. By the time someone emerges from prison, the world has changed. Their family dynamic has changed. They themselves have changed. Unless something has happened while in prison that has fundamentally changed their outlook on life, they are hardened in a way that the regular folk in the world cannot begin to understand. Prisons will have various programs that are meant to rehabilitate an inmate, but the only thing that consistently works is when an evangelical Christian organization has a prison ministry that presents the Gospel to to the inmates. Then, lives can be changed. 

            I have never been involved in that kind of prison ministry. I have never lived close enough to a prison to make that feasible. And, being a pastor, I have never really had the time such a ministry demands. As a pastor, I have been to prisons, though. A wayward church member or someone in the church who has a wayward family member. I have carried the Gospel into prison. But more often, I have been active in the jails of the areas in which I have pastored. At one time I had my own little jail ministry. Just me and an agreement with the local lock-up. I didn't 'preach' to the prisoners. I would go from one cell to the next, trying to talk with these men who didn't yet realize the fullness of their situation. Often, they were arrogant and boastful because they were sure they were going to beat the system and get out. Once in a while I would get to talk to someone who had been sentenced to prison for an extended period, but they had not been transported yet. That person would be scared and confused. They were receptive to what I said. One thing I did learn was that no two jail visits were going to be the same.

          I say I would talk to the men only because this particular county jail didn't allow men to go on the women's side and talk to them. There was a local evangelical group that provided women for the purpose of talking to the women prisoners. It worked out fine and I never had a problem with it. Then, one day when I came into the jail the senior corrections officer (we called them ‘guards’ back then) came to me and told me that there was a woman on the female side of the jail that really needed to see a minister. She didn't want to talk to one of the ladies, she wanted a 'real' preacher. Could I go over? I told him that this woman would just have to have one of the ladies talk to her. (It had not been a good day of visiting. A prisoner had thrown a cupful of the contents of his toilet at me.) He told me that she didn't trust 'women preachers' and she really did need to talk to someone. I told him I would go over.

          The women’s side was different from the men’s side. On the men’s side there were two solitary cells, one padded room and a huge cell block where each cell was separated only by bars. On the women’s side it was a series of cells that had solid walls between them and a solid front. The only way you could talk to a prisoner was to talk through the slot in the door where the food trays were passed. Two prisoners per cell.

          I went to the door I was told to go to and knelt by the food slot. I called for the woman who had been wanting to talk to a preacher and a scared young woman came to the slot. I say young woman because she had to have been at least eighteen to be in that jail, but she really looked to be twelve. She had been caught smoking a joint of marijuana. Her folks were going to let her ‘rot in jail’ for bringing such shame into the family. I would find out later that a boy she was trying to impress had talked this girl into smoking the joint. When the police broke up the late night bonfire she was the only one who heeded the command to stop. The other kids, including the boy in question, left her to take the heat. Now she was in jail with little or no chance of ever getting out until her trial. So, she was more than a little scared.

          She didn’t tell me her story, though. I got that later from another source. She was terrified that because she had smoked a joint she would go to hell. Her mother had told her as much, and they were good church going people. I explained to her that we are all sinners. There were no degrees of sin. Jesus offers the free gifts of forgiveness and salvation if we will just ask Him. Over a period of time I got this across to her, but it was what was going on while I talked to her that was really unusual.

          When she crouched down by the slot and began to talk to me her cellmate shouted, “Is that your preacher man, little honey?” I was looking through the slot so I could make eye contact with the girl. I could hardly avoid seeing her cell mate.

          The cell mate, in for prostitution, began to sing the tune to the music normally associated with a striptease. As she did this she started to take off her clothes. Meanwhile, the distraught girl in front of me was so intent on the questions she had she didn’t even notice the other woman. She probably had endured this and worse by that time. When I dropped my eyes she asked me not to look away. She needed to see my eyes to see if she could trust me. So, while a professional striptease was taking place in the background I was able to share the love of Christ with a scared young girl. And, before I was done, the prostitute had settled down and was listening, too.

          People have their perceptions and their preconceived notions. But remember; there are bad people in this world, true. But they need Jesus. Maybe you are not one of those people who can go behind bars to talk to them, but you can support those who do go behind the bars, and you can pray for the ones receiving the good news. God bless.