Prison Experience

Hi this is Julie Bratt here! I wanted to tell you a little bit about the prison experience we had as a group today. Going into the day, I really did not know what to expect. I knew that we were going to visit some guys who had been a part of a specific gang, but other than that I was not sure what would be happening. Joel Van Dyk explained that these guys had their own place in the prison because of the severity of their crimes. He mentioned how a lot of the people in the other part of the prison would love to get their hands on these gang members. If that does not make you a little nervous, I do not know what does! When we got there, we were encouraged just to mingle and talk with the guys. I did not think that I would be very good at this considering my Spanish is less than adequate but the guys were very understanding! They were so receptive and appreciated us coming to visit them! They were actually a really fun group. I was talking to some of the guys (using my wonderful broken Spanish) and got Tami and Kelly to play a 3 on 3 basketball game with me against a couple of the guys. The room was very small but they had a hoop, so we challenged them to a little game! It drew quite a crowd...I do not know if that was because none of us were really that good, or if it was because us girls looked funny playing basketball in long skirts against guys filled with tattoos. Either way, it was really fun and the guys seemed to enjoy it!
The time spent there was so good. Even though these men had committed some of the worst crimes, I did not want to have that be the only thing that I saw in these men. So many of them really just wanted to know about us and who we were and what we were doing there that I forgot about the reason they were in the prison to begin with. I am so thankful for the ministry that God has brought to those men and I hope that we can all continue to pray for them as they figure out their identities in Christ!