Written by Rebecca Kahle, RAHAB Director of Operations
I don’t know what I was expecting.
It wasn’t for a lack of training, or thorough explanation, but when I first walked in to serve in Jail Ministry – I was shocked. I had a lot of mental images of what I thought this night might look like: orange jumpsuits, armed guards, and intimidating women unable or unwilling to open up. Sound familiar?
But what I found inside those cinderblock walls on that first Thursday night was so much different.
The guard let us in and commented on the joy radiating from our little group, laughing at ourselves and each other. “They need it here,” he said. “Laughter and Jesus. They need more of both in there.”
We carried arms full of bibles and a small bag of cookies beyond the locked and guarded doors. The room was small but packed with anxiously waiting women. It occurred to me that if we added too many more people, we would have to take the table out just to fit in the room. I wondered if there was even an empty seat at the table for me, the new volunteer.
There were a lot of hugs, a few “I missed you’s”, a couple wandering eyes that glanced into the bag of cookies to see what tonight’s treat was, and a few eyes landing curiously on me. I was quickly introduced and welcomed with open arms. It was like I had been there forever.
As Bible study started, the women pulled out and opened tattered and highlighted Bibles that would rival the Bibles of any scholar. They read Scripture passionately and willingly and began reflecting on the Word like they had been studying it for years. It was evident after just a few moments that the women inside of this facility were deeply pursuing the love of Christ. I sat for an hour in awe of the faith around me.
As we began reading through the night’s Scripture, the women underlined and highlighted the parts they felt were speaking to them. Then one by one, they began to reflect on the ways the Lord was leading them through this season. One of the women sat timidly through her first study with RAHAB and passed on her turn to read aloud. But with the encouragement of a volunteer and the women around her, she spoke up to say “I just feel like the Lord hasn’t given up on me. That He’s in here with me too.”
Nearing the end of the night, a woman mentioned a Saturday Bible study. It then came out that the women had started their own Bible study in addition to RAHAB’s because they love it so much. The women talked about the excitement of getting new members to join and the discouraging declines they had received from some of their friends. As RAHAB’s team encouraged them, they assured us “Don’t worry, we’ll keep praying for them. We know that they just need Jesus.”
To close the study, one of the women prayed for us and it was as if the Lord, Himself, had stepped into that small little gray and white room. She spoke beautiful words about a God who hears, and sees, and helps His children, that even though she was afraid for her pending release, she trusted that He would see her through that too. She thanked Him for the ways He had already forgiven her and asked for the strength to continue to look more like Him.
As we got up to say our goodbyes, the timid girl from earlier in the night asked me, “How do I get one of those?”, pointing to the Bibles in my hand. I smiled as I handed her one, and her face lit up. “Where should I start?”
The women hugged me and the rest of the volunteers and those approaching release excitedly told our team that they would see us at RAHAB’s Drop-in Home. When one woman mentioned she had never been there, another was quick to pipe up and say, “When we’re out of here, I’ll take you!”. Even when they regain their freedom, these women are seeking the love of Jesus and RAHAB in their life.
I walked out of that building astonished, with already growing excitement for the next time I would get to step foot in that room.
The Lord’s call to visit the imprisoned is clear, but after actually doing it, I wonder if there were even more reasons for this command. Is there something in it for those of us who do?
Matthew 25:36 says, “…I was in prison and you came to visit me.’” The “Me” in this sentence stops me in my tracks, because while I did go to the jail to visit the women, I found Jesus in that place too.
Outreach, whether we’re walking into Strip Clubs or Jails, can be an intimidating endeavor. But the Lord has gone before us and reassures us that there is no where we can go apart from Him. He is already visiting with the imprisoned, we just get to do it with Him, and it’s one of the most beautiful things I have ever done.