A Day in Our Life

Saturday morning. It is 7:30 AM, and it is 56 degrees and raining as we pull into the prison parking lot. There are some team members already there. They look cold and wet, but are ready to serve the Lord no matter what the weather.  I have already had several phone calls to see if we are still doing this visit. Team members are riding in from close by and some from across the state. The Lord has told me not to cancel this visit. We circle up and have prayer.  It is 7:30, and as we walk in to security, they start checking names. As we go down the list we find out three of our team members have been left off their list, and of course one of those not on the list is to be a speaker!

 Welcome to prison ministry!

As we prepare to enter the sally port with our bikes, we must have everything out of our bikes and pockets, nothing on our vest, and yes, even no hankies. Blue ones and red ones are definitely not allowed. As we start entering security again, we check each other for things in our pockets and on our vest, only wedding rings are allowed in. Team members start moving through the check point and the buzzer goes off. They start checking, and find a forgotten cell phone…back to the lockers he goes. “Anyone got a key for a locker?” he calls out.

We are finally through security as we walk or ride to where we will be holding our program or bike show. We circle up for prayer and ask the  Lord to protect us and let the Holy Spirit have His way in this place, and open the minds and hearts of the inmates coming to our program, and to anoint the Speakers as they let the Lord lead them in their talks or testimonies. They start coming in slow, and team members are on both sides to welcome them as they come in. We shake their hands and hand them a tract. Some are smiling and glad to see us, some are somber and will not look at you. They thank us for coming to see them. You see, these are men and women who don’t have a lot of self-esteem, and some don’t have anyone who cares enough for them to write or visit them.  It is hard for them to believe some one would come to see them, let alone show some kind of love to them ( God’s Love ) .

We get set up and start the music, or if we are lucky they will have a praise and worship team with a band. They start to play and sing, and we all look at each other and are taken back by the sound. These guys are good enough to be on a CD! We raise our hands and praise God as these men play for us and the Lord with pure love for Him. We get our socks blessed off and we haven’t even had the alter call yet (anyone for just doing praise and worship).

 I introduce the first speaker.
 We have been on the rec. field now for a half hour. I go up to a team member, and when I ask if he or she could give their testimony after the next song, they look at me like I was crazy or something. They say yes because they know the Lord has been calling them, or I would not have asked.

The fourth speaker takes the microphone and starts giving the last talk. God has been dealing with all four of the speakers today, and we have had many pauses in the talks as they dry eyes and wipe noses. The last speaker is asking the team to come forward as he or she finishes up the last talk. We walk forward and form a line across the rec. yard or gym or Chapel  .The last speaker has asked them bow their heads and   follow him in a prayer of salvation. When they finish, he asks for those who have committed their life to Christ for the first time to raise their hands. As the hands go up, he blesses them. He closes and asks for those who need prayer for family, salvation, or for their self to come forward, because we are there for them. Some of them rush up to a team member; one picks out one of the speakers and tells him his talk really touched him and would they pray for him. I look around and find the last speaker setting down. I go to them and hug them and they begin to cry, for this may be the first time they have been used by the Holy Spirit and are overwhelmed that the Lord would take a biker or some one like them and use them is such an awesome way.
I look at my watch and it is time to go.

We gather as a team and ride or walk out of the facility. We gather up in the parking lot and ask how many salvations, recommitments, and what kind of prayer was asked for.  We find out that the angels will be rejoicing as names go into the Lamb’s Book of Life.

We leave there feeling blessed and humbled that the Lord has called us to this type of ministry. Once, if you asked any of us what kind of ministry we wanted to do, the last thing that we would have said was we would be doing is prison ministry. Prison ministry is a calling, and if you are not called to it you will be uncomfortable with it. Most of us will tell you it is one of the most humbling experiences you will ever have serving the Lord.

We walk or ride away from these facilities and think it can’t get any better than this, but it always does. I have found out you can not out give God, so I now listen to that little voice  and do His will for my life and this ministry, for this is truly His ministry. Thank You and God Bless.

Tony McDonald