Monday, January 11, 2010

Spirit Moves in Mighty Way in Girls Prison


The Spirit moved in mighty ways in El Salvador today!  We had an incredible time in the girls prison today.  The girls are between the ages of 15 - 18 years old.  Our morning session was with the girls who are serving out their sentences.  When we walked in, some of the girls immediately came running over to hug and talk to us.  We worshiped for a while in English & Spanish, then performed a short drama about the prodigal "daughter".  Several of the girls accepted Christ, praise God!  I had such a sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit there from the moment we started to worship.  As awesome as that time was, the afternoon session was even more so.  We were warned before we went in not to expect the same from the next group of girls, that the atmosphere would be much cooler and more aloof.  These girls had only been in the prison a short time, and were awaiting their sentencing.  Most were involved in gangs before they were arrested for that activity, and they have caused many problems since arriving at the prison.  There have been riots, and they set fires and burned all the chairs there.  They aren't allowed to leave the dormitory room they are confined to, so we had to go in and set up for our program there.  Well, God had certainly gone before us there today.  When we walked in, they were even more receptive than the morning group.  They welcomed us, and we all talked, laughed and had fun while we were setting up.  God's presence was almost tangible in the room when we finished and issued an invitation for them to accept Christ.  There was hardly a dry eye in the room as almost all of them (approx. 20!) prayed for Christ to come into their lives.  My heart weeps for these girls who have such a hard life here.  Many are assaulted by family members or kicked out of their homes by the time they are teenagers.  Several of the girls asked us to pray for the children or spouses (remember, they are age 15-18!).  That prayer time was so touching as we invited the girls to pray for each other.  We emphasized now that Christ lives in them, their prayers are just as powerful as ours.  I felt such power from God in the prayer of the girl nearest me.  Even though I couldn't understand her words, the fervency with which she prayed so touched me since she had just accepted Christ moments before.  So please keep all of these girls in your prayers as they begin their walk of faith.  Pray that God strengthens and protects their new faith from those around them who will seek to deter them.

Stacy B.

2 comments:

  1. Stacy... I am so proud of the work you are doing... Take care... Mama

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  2. Stacy, what an amazing story! The power of the Holy Spirit is so evident in all that you guys are doing. Thank you for your heartfelt blog. It really helps those of us at home to share in the experience. I pray your time in El Salvador continues to be blessed!
    Peace,
    Paula

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