I learn so much when I go beyond this barbed wire. Despite our differences, we all share the same bond of needing love, respect, grace, and dignity. 

On a recent visit to a local prison, I stood face-to-face with women whose tears fell in a continuous stream; women who felt like they failed their children and families; women who wanted so badly to start over again.

They shared stories of relentless abuse, deception, and every sin you can imagine. Some women had been sold by their parents; others were abandoned; one woman was battered beyond recognition for fourteen days and was sentenced to 20 years to think about her part in the story of her child’s death. Had she trusted the wrong person? Had she protected her abuser? Did she wish she could go back and be the mother she intended to be? Yes, to all of it.

In my opinion, these are some of the most forgotten people of our society.

In Texas, you can hear a live band or a speaker any day of the week; but inside these walls, that’s not the case. So when we arrived they were overcome with joy, gratitude, and a glimpse of hope. They had been lingering in the endless drudgery and hardness of prison life–waiting for someone to give them a word of encouragement.

I was overcome with emotion in the days following, and still as I write this, my heart aches for them. Our ministry is seriously looking at ways to help these women on a more consistent basis–by breathing life and hope into their days of confinement–which for some, will end in the near future; but for others, that day is far, far away. Can you imagine how that must feel?

Ministries and fellowships like ours give these women an opportunity to reflect on what put them inside these walls; recast a vision of who they want to be in the future; receive and release forgiveness for themselves and others; and finally, to reinvent themselves. To repent, to renew, and be whole again. Isn’t this what grace and being reborn is about? No matter what previous roads they traveled, they need to know there is a new beginning for them in Christ; and most importantly, God is preparing a place for them for eternity. 

The more I go behind these walls, the more I see we all have different stories, yet God loves us the same. 

Thank you for giving me this opportunity.

Jen

p.s. our visit was made possible by those who support U R More and Prison Fellowship.  Please share the opportunity to Sponsor a Woman in Prison with your friends. This December, we hope to go back.