Many people we minister to consider themselves unqualified to be spoken to or in any way positively pursued by God.  Inmates commonly criticize themselves and others for attending our weekly gatherings, often stating that they don’t expect God to help them now that they’re in trouble since they didn’t seek God through attending church, praying or reading the Bible before their arrests.

Proverbs offers a powerful antidote to street religion, offering hope for sinners.   I invite people to read Proverbs 8:1-3 and ask them where wisdom speaks?  Together we identify some of the high places, streets, intersections and entry points of our city.   Might God be speaking in all these places?

We also read Proverbs 9:1-3, where wisdom is described as building a house, preparing food and sending out maidens to the heights of the city to invite people.  The inmates are struck that God’s wisdom takes the initiative and calls out in the streets, in public places and not in the expected places like church.

“To whom is wisdom calling?” I ask, inviting people to read Proverbs 8:4-5 and 9:4.  “God’s voice goes out to all men,” someone says.  “To the ignorant, to the fools,” says someone else.

“And who are the ignorant and the fools today?”  I ask.

“We are,” says one of the prisoners—and nobody disagrees.  People are surprised that wisdom pursues the uneducated, the undignified, losers who are on the outside.

I talk about how people usually think that sin separates them from God, but that here we see God’s wisdom offered freely to the unworthy, the unqualified.  I invite the men to be on the lookout for this wisdom & to expect God to be speaking and to even directly ask Jesus for wisdom and understanding.

I invite someone to read James 1:5 “but if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

When I ask the men if any of them feel they need wisdom for a difficult decision, a relationship or anything, everyone’s nodding.  We go on to read about the need to ask with faith, “without any doubting”—with expectation that God will answer.

I was recently driving down to Washington State Reformatory, thinking and praying in preparation for our bi-monthly Spanish worship service in Washington’s largest prison.  As I headed down Interstate 5 towards the turnoff to Highway 2 I decided to ask God for wisdom.

“Here I am Jesus at an intersection.  Give me a word, give me wisdom that would open up the men to your love.”

Immediately I had a picture in my minds eye of a tattoo of a heart on a bare chest over someone’s heart and the words as coming from God: “people see you as having a black heart, but I see you as having a good heart and as being a noble man.”

I immediately began to doubt that this was coming from God.  Never had I seen a heart tattoo on a man’s chest.  Surely I was making this up.

A group of fifteen or so Spanish-speaking inmates came to my service.  I led them in a version of the above Bible study, which came together beautifully.  At the end I decided to go for it and ask if anyone by any chance had a heart tattooed on his chest.   I looked around the circle from right to left, man to man.  Nobody was acknowledging such a tattoo.  Then a man to my left raised his hand. “I do,” he said, in Spanish.

I looked at him and repeated the Spanish translation of “people see you as having a black heart, but I see you as having a good heart and as being a noble man.”  His head recoiled and another man exclaimed in shock: “that’s truly a prophetic word.”  The man then pulled up his shirt to reveal a band of tattoos running across his chest—pointing to a clearly tattooed heart right over his heart.

Two weeks later I was able to ask him what that word about his heart had meant to him.  He told me that he is from a notorious street gang in El Salvador and has a long history of violent, criminal behavior and was viewed by people as having a black heart.  He said: “Lately I have been really doubting that people or God will ever see me as having a changed heart, even after all my efforts to follow Jesus.  That word really encouraged me, giving me hope that God sees my heart as good.”

This man was the most vocal leader of our new prison faith community and one of three or four members of the same Central American gang.

Please pray for this man’s growing faith, for this emerging Spanish church inside the prison and for our next gathering this coming Sunday.   Pray for us as we seek to be “maidens of God’s wisdom”—inviting the undeserving to the banqueting table.

If you are interested I knowing more about Tierra Nueva or supporting us in this ministry, please check out this new site http://give.fivetwo.org/give.tierra-nueva.org/ or www.bobekblad.com

 

 

I just returned from a ten-day trip to France and the UK that was marked by a number of divinely-orchestrated encounters.  When I have a significant meeting with someone in out-of-the-ordinary circumstances, my faith and expectation increase, and I long to see and enter Jesus’ Kingdom more regularly.  I cannot resist sharing a few of these meetings with you.

Last week I flew from Vancouver to France to speak at a conference near Valence in the Rhone Valley.  I had been invited by the leaders of a French prayer movement called “Union de Prière” (Prayer Union) to speak to 150 of their members at their annual retreat, which this year was on resistance and submission.

I had also planned to introduce the French version of my course on missions to anyone interested in starting a pilot course in their church.  The conference provided a perfect occasion to connect with many leaders throughout French-speaking Europe.

The location was a three-story stone retreat center in the beautiful little town of Charmes, located on the Eastern foothills of the remote mountainous area known as the Cevennes or “desert,” (wilderness) where French protestant “Huguenots” had found refuge from persecution.

On the fourth day I had planned to visit Daniel Bourguet, a Protestant monk who directed my doctoral thesis and has been an important spiritual mentor since 1989 (photo below).  Gracie and I have been members of “Les Veilleurs,” a spiritual community committed to contemplative prayer led by Daniel for many years.   A friend drove me 3-4 hours to “Les Abeilleres”- a retreat center in the Southern part of the Cevennes region near Montpellier where many come for retreats and spiritual direction with Daniel Bourguet.

It was great to catch up and to pray with Daniel, to give him my mission recordings, and receive his latest book.  When our time was up he accompanied me down the path from his hermitage towards the retreat center.  When we reached a bench where Daniel’s next visitor was waiting I said goodbye, and we drove the 3-4 hours back to Charmes.

The next day was the final morning of the conference, after which a man drove me to the train station in Valence.  We conversed about his rapport with his father, who he consequently felt led to more fully forgive and bless. The Spirit came very strongly and we ended up praying together right up to the last moment before the train came.

I entered the train station, found the right platform but didn’t have time to have my ticket stamped before boarding—a requirement on French trains.  After settling into a second class seating area filled with young people, I got up to look for the conductor.

I made my way to the second floor of the train and eventually located the man who checked tickets, apologized and explained that I hadn’t been able to stamp my ticket before getting on.  “Bob,” he said, “someone who travels as much as you do should be traveling first class!”

It took a while for his statement to register as I didn’t recognize this man at all and couldn’t imagine how he could know my name or anything about me.  Amused at my confusion he explained:

“I was the man sitting on the bench yesterday, waiting to see Daniel Bourguet at Les Abeilleres after you visited with him,” he said.  “Let’s go to your seat and get your bags, I have a seat for you in First Class.”

I could not believe what was happening to me, and he too was quite surprised.   There are many trains that stop at Valence every day, but very few that stop at CDG airport as mine did.  He said he knew my name because the retreat hostess had told him that Daniel was with “Bob.”  If I hadn’t failed to stamp my ticket I would have never gone up to the second floor where we met.

After finishing checking people’s tickets he, Frédéric, brought me tea and pound cake and we talked for nearly two hours about God, contemplative prayer, and about “Les Veilleurs,” of which he was also a member.  I was inspired by his active pursuit of God and intercession as he traveled.  It turned out he was especially interested in my mission course and said he was from a 250-member charismatic evangelical church in Montpellier that has a strong interest in mission..  I had one last copy of my video recorded lectures that he was happy to accept.

I continue to ponder what the Spirit is doing in connecting me with this contemplative train conductor.  Nine years ago while staying at the Union de Prière retreat center in Charmes I had dreamed of a fire mounting from the Eastern Cevennes (Charmes) and from the South (Les Abeilleres) consuming the symbolic heartland of French Protestantism.

Back then I had also traveled to visit Daniel Bourguet as I did last week.  The Holy Spirit does appear to be actively involved in  linking people and movements for prayer and also for mission– in this case to bring renewal to France.

Last Sunday during our jail service I came prepared to baptize a man who had requested baptism a few weeks before.  The jail Sergeant even personally filled up the minimalist paper cup for this Sacrament, handing it to me with a smirk across the institutional-maroon Formica booking counter.  I knew there was a good chance my supply of water would not be used as on the previous Thursday.

There was no guarantee that I would see the men from E-Pod due to the jail’s reorganization efforts.  My thirty minute time slot was already whittled down to twenty minutes due to the previous group’s late start.  As the guard ushered me back into the jail’s multipurpose room I learned that the upper tier of E-Pod was locked down due to a fight, so the chances of the baptismal candidate being in the lower tier was getting lower.  And yet I’ve been experiencing God’s amazing flexibility in working in the midst of the messiness of human contingencies, and the group that came in did includethe man wanting baptism.

We looked together at Jesus’ baptism according to Matthew 3:11-17, and I suddenly wondered why I had complicated an already short time reflection by including verses 11-12.

“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove his sandals; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  And his winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clear his threshing floor; and he will gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

An inmate read John’s description that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.  We discussed the verses that terrorize people about the chaff being burned with unquenchable fire while the grain is gathered into the barn.

In response to an inmate’s articulation that chaff equaled bad people that would be damned, I suggested that chaff is the protective part of a grain—and that Jesus’ baptism is about removing and destroying this self-protective part from the vulnerable and valuable kernel—us.

“What might be some of the means we use to self protect?” I asked.  The men mention things like knives, guns, and self-medicating efforts like drug and porn addictions, and overworking.  I turned to a young gang member sitting beside me who I’d know for many years and asked him if he’d ever threatened anyone as a way to self-protect.  He looked surprised and said: “That’s what I’m in here for right now—for threatening someone.”

It encouraged the guys to see Jesus as not being about burning up people, but rather our self-protective attitudes and practices.  Seeing baptism as a surrendering to the fire of our ways of taking care of ourselves, our stress and problem-producing control mechanisms looked appealing.  After all, the men could see that this chaff had gotten them into the trouble they were in.

We then read the next verses describing Jesus’ actual baptism, how the Spirit came upon him as he came out of the purifying, chaff-removing water.  The Father’s words of total, unmerited approval appealed to these men who had a proven track record (criminal record) showing their inability to measure up.

From there I suggested that we go right into the baptism and asked the man if he still wanted to do it.  He nodded soberly, and I asked him to stand and for everyone to gather around him in a semi-circle.  At this point I decided to extend the invitation to others.  Three other men from the group wanted to be baptized, including the young gang member who was looking at life inprisonment.   All of us spoke our agreement regarding the following baptismal renunciations and affirmations in both English and Spanish.

“Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?”

“Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?”

“Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?”

“Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior?”

“Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?”

“Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?”

The guards came in just as I was dowsing the fourth man, twenty minutes into our time.  I left amazed at God’s perfect timing, grateful to be part of Jesus’ beautiful ministry.

 

Last Thursday night I went to the jail prepared to baptize a man from E-Pod, but apparently God had other ideas.  The jail guards surprisingly ushered in inmates from B-Pod, a group of men who hadn’t been allowed to attend our services for over three weeks.

The fifteen or so men were eager to talk about Romans 1:18-20 (see my last update).  Since they had been kept from regular gatherings due to reshuffling in the jail they were particularly open and we had a rich discussion.  When the guards didn’t come after the usual thirty minutes I invited the men to receive more of the Holy Spirit in a way I thought they would like.  Since I knew they had been deprived both physically and spiritually I suggested that we try drinking in the Spirit through an imaginary exercise that I rarely do.

I suggested that we imagine that we are each holding a forty ounce can of malt liquor which we were going to chug (the fastest and cheapest way on the street to get an alcohol buzz).  I told them that I was going to pray over our imaginary cans, that the Holy Spirit would fill them so we could drink God’s Spirit right down into our beings.  The guys were humored and excited as we lifted our cans before us, popping the tabs to open them, asking the Spirit to come and then “one, two, three,” chugged them down.  We laughed together for a while and then I told them a story about when I had first done this drinking activity with inmates about eight years before.

I told them how after I and the four inmates had received the spirit in this way the man to my right had began to cry, the man beside him was filled with joy, and I got the word “father wound.”   As I told the story I pointed in the direction of about ten o’clock in our large circle of men, recalling how right there, eight years ago, one of the four had stood up, saying he was sure this father wound word applied to him.

He had then pulled up his shirt to show us seven stab wounds his stomach.  He went on to recount how his father had beaten him severely when he was a kid and that he had felt so badly about himself that three months before he had stabbed himself seven times in the stomach and had nearly died from the wounds—continuing to feel severe stomach pain.

At that point I told the group how I had explained to this man the importance of expressing the pain we have from our fathers and mothers sinning against us, and then to drop our judgments rather than harbor bitterness.  I pointed over to where the man had been sitting who had stabbed himself, remembering it like it was yesterday, recalling how he had chosen to forgive his father and consequently been healed.

As I was finishing the story one of the men I had been pointing towards surprised us all by saying that this man I was telling about was his brother!  He told how in fact their father had exercised a lot of physical and emotional violence against them when they were growing up, and how his older brother had done prison sentence after prison sentence.

Realizing that I now needed to continue focusing on forgiving our fathers, we moved into a discussion about how when we don’t forgive those who have sinned against us we are likely to behave in similar ways.  At this point one of the men who had continued reading on his own after Romans 1:18-20 said: “Hey, right here it says exactly that:

“Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things… Or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance” (Romans 2:1-4).

A man to my left spoke up: “I don’t know if I can do that.  I am totally full of bitterness toward my old man.  Is this something you can just do, or does it sometimes take a long time?” he asked.

I assured him that it can take a long time when we’ve been seriously sinned against, and I reminded everyone of Jesus’ call to forgive seventy times seven (Matt 18:22).  A huge guy who worked as a logger to my right stood up and told how this would be hard for him too:

“My dad shot and killed my mom when I was one year old.  He didn’t just shoot her once but four times.  I’ve been bitter against him ever since I learned it from my adoptive parents,” he said.

Just then the guards popped the doors and I said goodbye to the men, encouraging them to let the Spirit guide them regarding who and how they need to forgive.   I left amazed at how the Holy Spirit was so present to seemingly guide the guards choice of pods and the following words, Scriptures, example and even the gestures of our gathering.  I left interceding for these men, who like most offenders have been seriously sinned against themselves and are in need of big doses of mercy and love.

One recent Sunday in the jail I discovered that the normal ‘B-pod’ group of inmates I usually meet with were ‘locked down’ due to a fight. The guard ushered in a different group of 8 or so men instead. After introducing ourselves and praying I had someone read Romans 1:18-31. As an inmate read the first verse I suddenly saw something I had never noticed.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness — of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

“Do you guys notice here that God’s wrath is not revealed against people?” I asked, interrupting the reading. “God’s wrath is against ungodliness and unrighteousness! Wrath is not directed at unbelieving, deceptive, abusive, lustful or angry men, but against unbelief, deception, abuse, lust and anger. Does this sound like good news?”

The men looked up from their bibles with wide eyes, surprised, even a bit jolted. Suddenly it dawned on me that I was reading Romans 1 with the sex-offender pod, men who hadn’t had access to weekly Bible studies due to the danger of mixing them with other inmates because of their despised, sex-offender status.

This clear differentiation between sin and people is consistent in the New Testament (see Romans 7:19-20). Jesus is never described as being violent towards people, but only towards the non-human powers (demons, Satan, certain attitudes (like superiority, pride), sins, money changing tables…). This distinction makes it easier for many to approach God for help.

More precisely here, God’s wrath is revealed against the spiritual states of ungodliness (asebeia), meaning lack of reverence for God, and unrighteousness (adikia) – which is the opposite of truth (alethia) and true righteousness (life in harmony with God’s will & Jesus’ kingdom- “on earth as in heaven”).

Ungodliness and unrighteousness result from people suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, rather then welcoming God’s continual communication to us all.

God’s communicating to all people is emphasized next: “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (1:19-20).

“Do you sense that God is speaking to you? Are you paying attention to what God is showing and telling you?” The men were all able to think of examples of the Spirit’s active communication to them, and also of their suppressing the truth in the midst of daily life. I found myself really inspired to be even more watchful for God’s Presence in my life too. The next lines offered analysis and some keys to a knowing the way forward.

“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (1:21)

Futile speculation, darkness, worshipping and serving creatures and all evil described in the rest of this passage result from ignoring the Creator, who gives humans over to the lusts of their hearts (v. 24), degrading passions (v. 26) and depraved mind (v. 28).

We agreed together to respond to this verse in prayer, speaking words honoring and thanking God. This is the way forward in resisting ungodliness and unrighteousness from the suppression of truth, and I find myself wanting to practice this more deliberately.

Titus 2:11-12 provides still more encouragement to pay attention to God’s initiatives towards us, as God’s grace is described as actively appearing, bringing salvation and instructing:

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age.”

Our group of unlikely partners came to a place of unusual clarity and excitement to step into active faith described just prior to all these verses:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “but the righteous man shall live by faith.” (1:16-17)

The following week I received a letter from one of the inmates for that pod. I include an excerpt here:

“Thank you for coming today, because our pod is very unlucky when it comes to getting our own time for church and A.A. I’m sorry to say that we are lucky that B-pod was locked down today. Otherwise we would have not had that opportunity to see you. Just within this last two months that I’ve been here I have received Jesus as my Savior and I have this pod to thank for that. This is the sex offender pod and before I was brought here whenever I was in another pod or I looked into here from on the other side of the door I was so judgmental and I talked bad about this pod. But now that I’m in here I couldn’t want to be in any other pod. The guys in here are, for the most part saved and born again. Whenever we get someone new we suggest Bible studies and the like. I am not a sex offender but the guys that are in here that are being charged are facing life and for the most part feel the need for Jesus because they feel they have very little to live for…. Most people think that these guys are monsters, but if they were here in the midst of it all would think differently. They are the most giving, caring and nice guys around. If we need something or want it and they can spare it they will 90% of the time give it to us. Things like phone calls, commissary items, I-care packages and whatnot all get shared even when we don’t ask. The pod has a happy, joyful aura about it that makes things easier being in jail.”

It is encouraging to see the Spirit moving among those who society would deem the least worthy, even damned. When we come to believe that God truly loves us while opposing powers that prey on us, we are lead to honor and gratitude. I am seeing a growing desire among inmates and my own colleagues to consciously resist “suppressing the truth”, and to step into a more active relationship with our continually speaking, revealing Creator. Gracie and I are feeling this too, and pray that you will be encouraged forward in your faith journey as well.

Last night my colleague Alan and I were leading our normal Thursday evening back-to-back Bible studies in the Skagit County Jail in Mount Vernon. We started out just after 7pm with two men from “A Pod”. Both men were visibly upset as they were facing the normal post-arrest chaos: criminal charges, family upset, detox from drugs and alcohol, un-determined sentence. I could see we needed to pray before looking at a passage from the Bible, and asked if they were okay with that.

One man surprised me by his unusually generous attitude of a intercessor: “Every day I pray that God would be with all the people out there, protecting them and blessing them wherever they are.” After asking Jesus to pour out his Holy Spirit on us, to fill us with his peace, to open our hearts and minds to hear God’s Word to us, I included this man’s prayer, asking for God to truly protect and bless the people out there on the streets, in the world, including our loved ones. Alan and I then went on to pray and prophesy over the two men, and the Spirit visibly touched them.

At the end of second Bible study the guard informed us that the bridge over the Skagit River had collapsed. He didn’t know whether anyone was hurt or killed, but the men in our third Bible study were all very upset and wanted to pray. Jail staff had just announced that the phone system was down for the night, so the men were quite concerned that they wouldn’t be able to call family to find out whether their loved ones were okay. Everyone seemed quite earnest about praying for all the people affected by the bridge collapse. Our reading of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 also seemed to move the guys.

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

Imagining cars on I-5 driving 60-70 miles per hour off the edge of the bridge into the frigid Skagit River was making people think. “I cross that bridge several times every day when I’m out there,” one man said. The idea that our bodies belong to God, are bailed out of death’s prison grip by Jesus’ death and resurrection was making sense and looking attractive and needed. We were all feeling the desire to surrender our fragile selves to the One who made us and ask for Holy Spirit to fill us.

Our last Bible study was interrupted by one of the inmates being called out by the guard. The men were worried for him, wondering if he was about to be told that one of his family members had been injured or killed. In fact Alan had left early to meet with him one-on-one. He’d just been found guilty and was looking at a 15-year prison sentence. The men all wanted to pray for him, for his family, and for anyone else affected by the bridge collapse.

I left the jail last night in bumper-to-bumper traffic as traffic was being re-routed. I headed to my parents and watched live footage of rescue workers searching the river for survivors. Only a few cars had gone over the bridge and nobody was killed. My first thought was of the inmates’ intercession.

This morning in a BBC article on the bridge collapse “Dan Sligh, one of those rescued from the water, said the bridge had disappeared in a “big puff of dust”.

“When the dust hit I saw the bridge start to fall,” he said. “At that point forward momentum just carried us over and as you saw the water approaching it was just one of those [times when] you hold on as tight as you can and I saw just a white flash and cold water.

“You talk miracles. I don’t know what you want to call it. When you’re sitting down in the water and there’s all that mangled metal and bridge, and you’re looking around kind of pinching yourself and realizing you’re lucky to be alive. It’s a pretty amazing day to tell you the truth.”
He said he dislocated his shoulder in the fall, but popped it back into place. Mr Sligh and his wife were “belly deep in water in the truck”, and he said his wife was in shock as they waited for help.”

Men and women in our jails and prisons often know through the pain of confinement and deprivations and the trauma of many near-death experiences that life is fragile and precious. They often come to see that living life their way, as if their bodies are theirs to own and control, has not worked for them. They are readier than most to surrender their lives to Jesus, to agree with God to let their bodies be temples of the Holy Spirit. They often become intercessors for their families, our communities and world. I woke up this morning feeling grateful and inspired.

In late December 2012 I received a letter from Jeff, a 35-year-old man currently incarcerated in Washington State Reformatory who I hadn’t seen or heard from some two years. He was writing to tell me that on January 1, 2012 he’d totally surrendered his life over to Jesus and that things were going well. “I’m trying to reach out to the homies (fellow gang members) here. I get them signed up for church and with some I do Bible studies. Now I know why you do what you do.” Jeff’s letter was a bright light of hope for me.

Jeff grew up on the streets of our county, running with Mexican gangs. Much of the parenting he’s received has been from the moms of his homies and from older gang members. I was drawn to him from the moment we met 18 years ago, and have been pained that our connections have usually been during times of crisis between prison sentences. Jeff calculates that he’s been locked up for a total of 18 years, including stints as a juvenile.

I first met Jeff in 1995 in Skagit County Jail in one of my most memorable experiences as jail chaplain. On that day, my Bible study on John 4 was not working. The thirty or so Spanish-speaking inmates were unusually agitated. I took an inmate’s advice and wrapped up the study with the Lord’s Prayer, which I found myself praying faster and faster as I was hearing noises around me. When I opened my eyes, men on both sides of the room had chairs raised over their heads (a good reason to keep your eyes open when praying).

I later learned that the Sureño gang members in the jail had planned to jump the Norteños during the Spanish Bible study because a Norteño guy had started a rumor that disrespected Jeff, a Sureño. Inmates later told me that they felt paralyzed when the Spanish version of the prayer ended (it ends with “deliver us from evil”), and were unable to lower their chairs down on the heads of their enemies.

I did some one-on-one visits with Jeff who was 18 at the time, and then didn’t see him for two years while he served his prison sentence. Once released Jeff contacted me, asking me to perform a wedding for him and his childhood girlfriend Catalina, which I did. Sadly, in spite of Jeff’s love for Catalina and their baby girl Angel, gang involvement and drug dealing kept landing him in jail and prison. Jeff and Catalina’s marriage didn’t survive these stresses, though they have remained close friends.

The last time I had seen him was two years ago at a very stressful time. Skagit County prosecutors were trying to put Jeff away for 24 years on drug charges with gang enhancements. Aware that nearly all of Jeff’s past crimes were directly related to drug abuse, I had attempted and failed to convince the prosecutor to let Jeff into drug court. Jeff’s anxiety about being locked up for the rest of his daughter Angel’s youth was so extreme that he ended up inciting a riot that led to still more charges. He was shipped off to prison while I was on an itinerant speaking trip in the UK.

These past two Fridays I have visited Jeff in Washington State Reformatory (WSR) and your SW of here. Since I had seen him respond positively to Jesus in past jail Bible studies I was curious about his letter stating he’d surrendered his life to Jesus only last year. He told me that actually his conversion had started right at the darkest point during his last time in jail. He told me how the prosecutor has surprised him by inviting him to accept a plea agreement for only 60 months in prison— five years instead of a potential twenty-four. This felt to him like a direct intervention from God.

I was shocked to hear about this as well. I had called this prosecutor, presenting Jeff to her the way I saw him. I told her that as Jeff’s pastor I knew a side of him that law enforcement had not seen. I knew that underneath his rough exterior he had a compassionate heart and a true desire to change. I asked her to trust me and to believe in him, even after his recent behavior and the riot. She had listened but insisted that she couldn’t give him any breaks. But then she did!

As for his conversion on January 1, 2012 Jeff told me: “Bob, I’ve always known that I cannot serve two masters, and that I had to make the choice to serve only one. I hadn’t been willing all these years to give up my old ways and serve only Jesus until last January. And since then everything has changed.”

Jeff and I have spent the last two Fridays reading the Bible and praying together, and talking about his dream to work with young people prone to gang involvement. Jeff is a natural leader, is growing spiritually by leaps and bounds, and is actively preparing for his August 2014 release.

Jeff told me about how there have not been any Spanish services in the prison since he’s been there, and named many Mexican inmates who I know. He urged me to make contact with the prison officials. Last week I called the prison chaplain who is enthusiastic and is doing everything possible to have me approved to begin a bi-weekly Spanish service by June.

As far as I know Jeff, Catalina and Angel do not have people actively praying for them. You can make a big difference through your intercession. All of them need protection, wisdom and clear direction for their future, as well ongoing growth in knowing and following Jesus. Pray for me as I prepare to launch a new ministry to Spanish-speaking inmates in the WSR prison. Pray too for Tierra Nueva as we focus more attention on effectively welcoming ex-offenders back into our community.

The image of the sower in Matthew 13:18 has always resonated with me, as I have scattered lots of seeds in all sorts of ground: addicted, unbelieving, incarcerated, overworked, and often receptive.

I have witnessed many people receive the word with joy, drinking it into their thirsty souls.  I’ve watched them grow before my eyes.  And yet for the countless Bible studies I’ve led and individuals and families I’ve visited, I’ve seen very little fruit.

I don’t know what’s happened to most of the people I’ve ministered to a chaplain of Skagit County Jail and in Tierra Nueva’s migrant ministry.  Inmates have often gone off to prison, from which they’ve been deported or released to a new life in some place unknown to me.  I rarely hear what happens to people who have heard the word.  I’ve clung to texts like Isaiah 55:10-11, which have brought me some comfort.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;  So shall my word be which goes forth from my mouth.  It shall not return to me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

Eighteen years ago I met a young man named Julio in Skagit County Jail.   At that time he was a scrappy gang banger from Stockton, California, caught up in PCP and crack cocaine addiction and dealing drugs for income.  I did one-on-one visits with him while he was in jail, and was increasingly drawn to him.   He called me “Pastor Robert”.

Julio and I hit it off, and when he was out of jail I began visiting him and his girlfriend in the apartment from which Julio sold drugs.  Julio asked me to read the Bible with him and his girl friend and to pray.  Our Bible studies were constantly interrupted by customers wanting to buy drugs—many of whom I knew from jail Bible studies. Julio invited everyone who came by to join in and learn about God.  He was a natural evangelist.  I loved him.

Julio and his girlfriend had two beautiful daughters together, which added more financial pressures and stress to their relationship. In spite of my best counseling efforts, he and his girlfriend broke up.  Julio took his daughters to live with his mom in Arizona.  He worked at one of the skills he’d learned from his stepfather—smuggling people through the desert to safety.

He would tell me how his drug addiction was taking a toll on his health.  It was hard to keep in contact with him with his constantly changing cell phone numbers.  Many times we were out of touch for months.  He was always on my heart.  My prayers would be answered when he’d call me out of the blue and we’d reconnect and pray together over the phone.  His young daughters would sometimes call me, saying “Pastor Robert, can you pray for my dad?”

I felt my limitations as a pastor all the time with this wily, beloved sheep, and have prayed for him all these years, imaging myself carrying him up and laying him before Jesus.  My love for Julio and longing to see him grow drove me closer to Jesus, asking for wisdom, training, more love, more of the Holy Spirit—whatever was needed.

Two weeks ago Julio called me out of the blue.  Pastor Robert.  “I’m leaving where I’m at and I’m moving back to Washington.  I’m ready to surrender to Jesus and to work with you at Tierra Nueva!”  He’d been on a Greyhound bus for 2 ½ days already and asked if I could pick him up.  He was three hours from Mount Vernon!

Julio moved into our building and has become part of our life again.  Last Sunday we baptized him.  He’s been going out with us on missions to pray for people, and loves it. This has been deeply encouraging to me, and I’m celebrating the realizing of Psalm 126:5-6.

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.  He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”

Please pray for him as he starts out afresh as Jesus’ disciple and our newest recruit.  Please pray for his 15 and 17 year-old daughters, who are living on their own now in Mexico, and their mom who is now in prison.   Lift them before the Good Shepherd, Jesus himself.  He knows where they are and how to bring them home.

We just returned from three weeks in Korea and Thailand.  There we witnessed first-hand the Spirit calling people into missions, we served alongside front-line missionaries who care for women and men in prostitution, and participated in prayers of confession and repentance to address larger macro-powers.

In Korea I led a retreat for about 200 members of Jubilee Church, a congregation of young mostly-Asian English-speaking ex-pats living and working in Seoul.  Jubilee’s mission statement is Isaiah 61, and the Holy Spirit was strongly present to call people into Jesus’ ministry, visibly filling and healing people.  Many expressed their longing to follow Jesus into the darkest places—and Thailand definitely qualifies. (Jubilee prayer team is first picture below).

Next stop was Bangkok, where I met with Jennie-Joy, a young, joy-filled missionary working with Nightlight to advocate for individual women trafficked from other nations so they can get out of the sex trade (second photo below).

Iven and Kashmira Hauptman welcomed me into their home in the heart of one of Bangkok’s red-light districts.  Iven invited me on a several-hour loop around the National Palace and Emerald Buddha Temple, where we encountered dozens of young men awaiting customers as free-lance prostitutes.

We talked to a number of guys about Jesus and prayed for those who accepted our offers to bless them, as potential customers slowly cruised by.  Iven and Kashmira are fluent in Thai, have built relationships with their neighbors and many of these young men, with whom they envision starting a church.

My third stop was Pattaya, Thailand, home to the world’s largest sex-tourism scene and meeting place for two gatherings of missionaries living and serving the poor in slum communities with Servants and the New Friars. Gracie and our 17-year-old daughter, Anna, joined me to minister to these missionaries.

While there we went out on the streets three nights to pray for people in the heart of the red-light district, and to discern what Jesus would have us notice and do in response (third photo below).  Walking the streets was highly disturbing, and yet intercession seemed urgent and came naturally as the despair and emptiness of the women and men selling themselves and also the customers was in our faces.

We knew that an old US Air Force Base “U-Tapau” was close by, from which US B-52 bombers left to bomb Cambodia, Laos and North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.  Many directly link the death and terror from these bombing campaigns to the rise to power of Khmer Rogue, and Pol Pot’sexecution of hundreds of thousands of Cambodians.

We were also aware that the US military had used Pattaya as an R&R site, and that sex tourism got it’s start there largely due to US troop presence.  One evening after a prayer walk through the heart of the prostitution scene, my friend Tom and I waded into Pattaya Bay and confessed nation’s sins, re-affirming our baptisms.  We felt God’s strong presence hovering over the waters.

At the Easter Sunday we included an act of public confession and repentance for US’s use and abuse of Pattaya as part of our celebration of Jesus’ victory over the powers (see below).  Many Americans joined me as I led these prayers (fourth photo) and Cambodian participants and ministry workers living in Phnom Penh offered declarations of forgiveness.

The following week our daughter, Anna volunteered with Tamar Project, a ministry that reaches out to women in prostitution.  Anna was deeply impacted as she worked alongside women whom Tamar staff had befriended and offered employment through their bakery, café and greeting card businesses (final photo).

Anna’s experience of working alongside the women was life-changing, reminding us that Jesus’ love is deeply personal and relational, and can overcome any barrier.  It breaks the grip of evil as people surrender to the crucified and risen Victor.

Prayers of Confession (March 31, 2013, Pattaya, Thailand)

I confess and renounce the sin of the United States of America of using and abusing the land of Thailand, the city of Pattaya as a launching pad for bombing raids on Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos.  I renounce US Imperial designs and lament the death and ongoing destruction that have resulted and continue to be felt.

I confess and repent of the sin of American soldiers, military personnel and other citizens of using Thai and Cambodian women as objects and for and any role the US played in contributing to the rise of prostitution in SE Asia.

We declare that there is no justification for these actions.

We repent of the sin of misrepresenting God through these behaviors [since many people would have viewed the US as a Christian nation].

We ask the people of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam for forgiveness for these sins in the name of Jesus.

Links to people and ministries

Jubilee Church, Seoul, http://jubileeseoul.com

Jenny Joy Tefler,  http://seedswillgrow.com/partners

Iven and Kasmira Hauptman, http://ivenandkashmira.com

Tamar Project, www.tamarcenter.org/en

Servants, http://servantsasia.org

On March 16 I gathered with 25 members of a delegation of Canadian and American Christians to bless the people of Mal Paso, Honduras—a village that Gracie and I have visited and cared for since 1983.  Honduras is currently considered the most violent country in the world—and Mal Paso’s recent history reflects the complexity and nature of much of violence wracking this impoverished nation and our unique role.

For nearly five years Gracie and I rode our motorcycle from Tierra Nueva’s farm base in Minas de Oro down the steep mountain road into the dry, lowland foothills every Wednesday.  One of the first couples we met were Teodoro and Chon, campesinos (peasants) in their mid-twenties (our same age at the time) who resided in front of a make-shift soccer field in the center of a village of scattered adobe houses.

They invited us in from the scorching sun to drink coffee under the veranda just off a courtyard that served as a holding pen for their small herd of cows.  Other subsistence farmers gathered with us to learn about sustainable farming practices.  Our group grew to include many of the village men and later the women– as Gracie worked with Chon, teaching them nutritious recipes, hygiene and nutrition.

At that time nobody was at all interested in Bible study—and we ourselves were more focused on trying to serve the people at their point of felt need– identified as increasing production of corn and beans, avoiding amoebic dysentery, a gravity-flow water system for the village, latrines and getting access to land for the many landless peasants.   We worked with the people on these priorities, and grew close to many as production increased, water systems and latrines were installed and the village progressed.  Teodoro and many other farmers experienced dramatic increases in their yields of corn and beans, and hope was on the rise.

One day the people came with reports that a little airplane had flown over their village and fields, dropping hundreds of little pieces of paper that warned that Jesus was coming soon and everyone who didn’t accept him before his arrival would be thrown into the lake of fire—so repent!  The people were stirred up, and wondering what we thought.  They asked us to lead them in a Bible study from then on at the start of every Wednesday agricultural committee gathering.

We watched many of Mal Paso’s residents become attracted to Jesus as we read and discussed together stories from the Gospels week after week.  Leaders emerged out of this committee who became Tierra Nueva’s founding peasant promotores (village trainers).

Hard times followed, as US AID (United States Agency for International Development) funded a project that paid farmers we had trained and organized to leave our ministry and re-organize under Honduran government- controlled committees.  US strategy at that time involved efforts to win Honduran hearts and minds as they recruited and trained peasants youth to fight the US’s battle against neighboring Nicaragua.  Tierra Nueva lost many villagers who accepted the free handouts of chemical fertilizer, chicken wire and food for work in exchange for their allegiance and relationship with us.

Then NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) came along, and US farmers were given the green light to sell heavily-subsidized American corn in Central American markets, causing local corn prices to drop below what peasants could produce it for.  These happenings drove many to hit the road for El Norte (the US), a dangerous and expensive journey across Guatemala and Mexico into the USA.

Many young men left our region. Some became involved in drug dealing, gang activity & served prison sentences in the US, later to be deported back to Honduras.  Many then became involved in drug trafficking (one of the reasons Honduras is so violent now).

While Teodoro had done well farming with Tierra Nueva, he, like many, got the “fever for the North.” He joined others from Mal Paso and surrounding villages to work in fields, construction sites and factories as an undocumented worker.  Teodoro returned 7-8 years later wealthier and tougher, his values damaged by wholesale pursuit of the American Dream.

Two years ago jealousy was aroused by some of Mal Paso residents successes in the United States.  A man who was successfully managing his immigrant brother’s affairs was falsely accused by family members.  Things escalated a he was shot to death.  This unleashed a wave of vengeance killings, as people hired assassins to shoot up whoever was next on the “kill list”.  My old friend Teodoro was #9 of the ten who were killed.  He was shot to death by submachine gun- bearing gunmen right there in his corridor where we’d started Tierra Nueva.

David, Tierra Nueva’s leader, was Teodoro’s next-door neighbor.  He was awoken by the shots early one morning and heard Teodoro crying out to God “my God, my God” as he died.  David had been first on the scene of most of the previous murders—and was traumatized.  Though a gifted leader, peacemaker and pastor, David felt he had to move out of the village to protect his family.  60% of the people moved away.  Not one of the murders has been investigated due a breakdown of law and order in much of the countryside.

For the past two years though David has been visiting those who remained in Mal Paso– some 150 people.  Every week David visits people in their homes, leads Bible studies and prayers.  We are working with him to seek employment solutions like raising chickens, pigs and purchasing abandoned land that once belonged to the victims.

Last week I accompanied him for several days of visits to Tierra Nueva’s families in other villages and was able to visit our coffee farm.  Everywhere we went we found people hungry for Bible study and open to prayer.  We saw many receive physical healing.  On Saturday we hosted the Catch the Fire team from Toronto to bless the people of Mal Paso.  Over 200 villagers came to receive medical consultations, medicine, beans and rice.  Members of the mission group played with the kids, painted their faces, shampooed hair and combed out lice.

David and I gathered the entire community at the start and addressed them regarding their need to mourn, to forgive and to receive God’s comfort.  Many acknowledged trauma, fear and ongoing nightmares.  Many men, women and children came into the center of our gathering to receive prayer.  People cried as hands were laid on them.  Prayer teams prayed for peoples healing and a group of us took a long walk around the circumference of the village, interceding for peace.

Please pray for wisdom and strength for David.  Pray too for peace in Mal Paso and for peace in troubled places like Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, Israel/Palestine and beyond.

 

Recently I prepared a talk on Judges 19, which ends with a call to “consider, take counsel and speak up” about the victim—which in that case was a Levite’s concubine who had been raped and cut up into 12 pieces and distributed throughout Israel.  Rather than responding as the men of Israel did—seeking to punish offenders in ways that unleash more violence, the text invites alternate ways—like the recent acts of kindness and solidarity offered to Mal Paso.  I invite you to view my recent reflection on Judges 19 as you contemplate Jesus, the risen victim this week, available on YouTube at http://youtu.be/fkGDnmJWC4Q