Dec. 20 - She forgave her husband even though he was dead

 

Ministry Partners,

Although I did not need to get up until 7am for breakfast at 8, I woke up before 3am and started violent coughing from my chest. Years ago, this also happened to me when I was here and when I returned to America the Dr. said I got it from something in the dirt-filled air here in Africa and he put me on steroids for a while. Not much coughing during the day but at night it just will not let you get a good night’s sleep.

I was so not hungry when I went in for breakfast that I only had tea. Then at 9 we were off to the women’s prison where 37 attended, sitting on their mats under the shade of a tree. Because they were sitting in a V around the tree I did not have many options and I did not want to stand on the opposite side of the tree and it block my view of some of them or their view of me. I walked around the tree, removed my shoes, like they do, and stood on the mat in front of them. One of the prisoners gave me her flip-flops but I told them that as a young girl I loved going barefoot, so I was fine.

I took some work but I preached 180 degrees, alternating from my right to my left. The women and guards made 3 good choices today for their lives, salvation, forgiving and apologizing. But testimony time was difficult for not only the three who decided to share as they cried and the other prisoners who were listening also cried. One inmate shared how her husband was a drunkard and would come home and beat her. She said he died of cancer and she did not go to his funeral but today because of our rope teaching on forgiveness she knew she needed to forgive him even though he was dead and her heart now felt free.  

Another inmate shared and as I hugged her when she finished she hung onto me and cried on my shoulder. After I share my testimony while teaching, the women feel safe sharing theirs because they know I understand. The transformation on their faces and in their eyes when our time is over is something I just do not have adequate words for but it is so powerful for the team to watch.

We have absolutely NO doubt that the Holy Spirit has equipped us with just the right messages and object lessons to convey the Gospel, Discipleship, Forgiveness and Apology for our crusades.

We see beef, pork, chicken, goat and fish shops like this, open to the heat and dirt, everywhere when we are driving.

When we returned to the hotel, I ate the breakfast items I missed this morning while the guys ran some errands. The rest of the afternoon was filled with sorting and packing up things to go with us and things to be stored.

Alfred and Aaron got stuck in traffic on the way home but finally arrived after dark.

That's it for this day.

For the next 5 days we will be traveling and doing prison crusades. Please continue to pray for the prisoners, prison staff and us.

That none would be lost,

Arlene