Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Hungry for Salvation

I went into one of the jail pods this afternoon and sat at a table. Tim sat down next to me and began to tell his story. "I fell in love with this woman, a schoolteacher, and we moved in together. Things seemed to be going fine for a little while, then things came crashing down." The woman he was living with had been cheating on him and had abused him. "She filed an order of protection against me even though she was the violent one." Tim's black and blue eye did indicate that he had been involved in some violent altercation.

"This isn't the first time you've been abused, is it, Tim?" I asked. Tim started crying and continued with a harrowing story. He said he met Christ in the late 80's. "Tim, God has put an order of protection on you. He's put you in jail to protect you." Tim continued to cry. Pray that the Lord would bring him to repentance and to put Christ first above everything. Pray for deep-level emotional healing in his life.

While I was with speaking with Tim, Charles asked if he could have a few minutes when I was done. After Tim left, Charles returned. "My aunt and my mom have been telling me that I need to get right with God, go to church, accept the Lord. How do I do that? Is is hard?" I was in shock! I shared the gospel with Charles. Through many tears, Charles told of how a man hurt his son, and that he had beaten the man because of it. Charles repented of beating the man. He also repented of hurting his son, himself. He made Jesus Lord of his life. Pray for Charles that he would get grounded in the Word and have a daily walk with Jesus. Pray, too, for his five-year-old son that he would also find hope, healing and salvation in Christ.

Harold came up to me after Charles left. "I know I need to get right with God; how do I do that? Does it take long?" I was amazed at the hunger in these men. The harvest is definitely ripe. I shared the gospel with him and he accepted Christ. Harold was born with dyslexia, and cannot read. I prayed that Harold would be healed. Pray that Harold would grow in his faith, be healed of his dyslexia and learn to read.

I really saw again how it's so not about me. The Father had been drawing these men to Jesus for some time. Others had done the hard work, and I got to reap (John 4:38).

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