Kairos Prison Ministry

I've had a few folks ask me how it went. The short answer--awesome! I asked a few of the Kairos veterans on Friday night if the first 2 days are usually this good. They all said there was something extraordinary with this one, it's like everybody is opening up a day earlier. And it proved to just keep getting better. Here's just a few things I noted during the closing. It's safe to say that I think everyone there will never be the same. Satan has lost and is losing a lot of his best work...

One of God's "Special Forces" I'll call him, a wonderful man of God serving life there with a powerful call and anointing to spread the gospel, put it like this during his testimony. This facility is desecrated ground. It's a world within a world dedicated to evil. It's where evil is swept out of society and housed in one festering location. (Tell me if that doesn't give you chills about the environment these brothers experience.) But then he went on to say that Jesus died for every soul there and God loves every man there in spite of themselves and He wants to forgive if we'll just receive. You can experience freedom anywhere on the camp through the presence of God!

One young man with tears in his eyes said he'd never been to church before, had been locked up all his life, and that nobody ever loved him but his momma until this weekend. Another a pretty hardened big guy testified in tears how when he came to prison, his family abandoned him completely. No visits, no calls, no letters, like he died. For the first time in years, he's completely at peace and all that bitterness and hatred is gone. He said he'd committed himself to follow Jesus and described it as signing a blank check for Jesus to use him however He can.

Another and by looks I'd have guessed he was the hardest guy in the room on Thursday. On Saturday night, he testified of his first "church" experience ever, his first "love" experience ever, and said it felt so good to be foregiven. He gets out in a few weeks and wanted us to help him find a church that would "accept HIM."

His comment was a real eye opener for me. I rejoiced in knowing He's God's now, but I'm also very concerned for this reason. Knowing what I've told you about his appearance, this thought hit me. How would the people in most churches, even my own, react if he walked in. If he was with me or somebody else as a friend or guest, maybe it'd be fine and some people would accept him, but averall, I fear most people would probably try to avoid contact with him. What if he came in alone??? He's got a certain look, a well trained distrust of people in general, and naturally has a hard time opening up or initiating friendship because of the walls he's built in a place where you ordinarily trust on one...If a church (my church, your church, any Christian church, doesn't matter) uninvited or unwelcomed a hurting person like this who is trying to adapt back into society and comes to the only source of unconditional love and kindness he's ever been introduced to, they are not fulfilling the great commandment and are no truly representing the body of Christ. Those are big words,but the great commandment is what it is. I have a new resolve to do my very best to show God's love at all times. You never know when it matters in someone's life.

Thank you for the prayers and support, and continue to lift up these men. Your prayers absolutely primed the pump for this weekend.

Your brother in Christ,
Eddie Mitchell