“She has blood on her hands,” said the female inmate about a
fellow inmate appearing to be in her 50’s; as if to ask if that could be too
great a sin for forgiveness. Her face
softened as our teammate shared that no sin is too great, Christ died as her
sin; past, present, and future.
499 inmates all dressed in yellow. 42 of them women and 5 children, 3 of which
were toddlers staying with their mothers. Because of a lack of Judges, over 300 of them,
many possibly innocent, are still waiting for a court hearing. They may have been
there already for a year or longer.
There appeared to be 1 or 2 guards walking around, paying
little attention to the crowd gathered freely, under the shade trees, in the
courtyard of the Soroti Prison. Our
natural instinct would have been one of fear. However, there was a great sense
of peace with our team, even our children.
The afternoon began with the prison band, complete with
African drums and finger pianos, singing a greeting song to us; Welcome to the
Soroti Prison! They followed with a
praise song. They were incredible! 500
men in yellow belting out praise songs to God.
Needless to say, we forwent all our ideas for worship and let them lead
us.
Our children all participated in a skit, taking place in a
supermarket, where Christian, acting as a thief, stole plates. When arrested, a
stranger came to take his place in prison and bear the punishment for him.
Our team shared Christ through His Word, prayer, drama,
worship, and a monologue of Judas Iscariot.
In a crowd of almost 500, a single man stood with boldness
and confidence in his desire to live for Christ. My eyes filled with tears as I saw this man,
dressed in yellow, as a fellow brother in Christ. Many others followed. The woman, with blood on her hands, also gave
her life to Christ. As we prayed with
the group that had gathered, I praised Him.
For the group of new believers we were surrounded by, for each one on
our Soroti Team, for the way prisoners ministered to us, and for what the Holy
Spirit is doing in my heart and in the town of Soroti.
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| Team Soroti Town at the Soul Care Retreat in Entebbe -March 2013 |
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