Last week, before my team arrived, I visited the overflow prison just outside of Granada, Nicaragua with good friends of mine from REAP Granada. Our visit made me ask some questions, but overall, it didn’t seem so bad.
I met guys convicted of “lesser” crimes as they escaped the confinement of their cells for discussion and bible study. It involved an American, a Frenchman, about twenty Nicaraguans, and ourselves.
It was when I spoke to the indicted Frenchman that I learned of prisoner conditions – everyone slept on the concrete floor, there was nothing but a hole in the floor (in some cells) for a bathroom, and time out of the cell was not an option for most.
I heard a loudspeaker in the back that sounded like an open-air crusade, but little did I know what lie there.
Today we returned and I was invited to the back where the speakers were set up. Never had I encountered anything like this in my life. There were 21 cells and each cell held 8 people (about 10’ x 12’) but one with 26 – 186 people total.
A million things began to run through my head. How many believers come to serve these men? What is it like to share years with 7 other people in a tiny cell? Do they have any freedom? What do they hope for? If they have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, what does their life look like inside? If they haven’t been redeemed, what does their life look like? …
The music began and I started praying. “Holy Spirit come. Holy Spirit come. Holy Spirit come…” All of a sudden, Michael leaned over and whispered through the music, “It sounds like they are singing.”
I looked up and saw arms out of cells, stretched to the sky – they indeed were singing.
I heard the sound of freedom.
The day continued, but mine stopped cold in it’s tracks. I thought to myself, “This may be the only freedom these men ever experience. Locked in a cell 24 hours a day or free as a bird, it’s the most liberated they could ever be.”
It dawned on me, I have more in common with these men than not.
Whether you find yourself behind bars or about your way with a skip, have you chosen freedom?
(Left: This is where they wipe their hands after fingerprinting. Right: Our Bible study and discussion outside.)
