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"God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them." 2 Cor.5:19
There we stood in the school cafeteria on a weekday morning. Not just any weekday; this happened to be the National Day of Prayer. A group of us gathered in this public high school in Chicago and prayed. We prayed for the children in that school, in the city. We prayed for their families. We prayed for the staff. We prayed for the violence to end. We prayed for shattered families to be reconciled.
It has been an interesting year, filled with the twists and turns of the transition our ministry has sensed would happen. We have found ourselves in public high schools, county jails, halfway houses, death row units, and more. We have become immersed in the human trafficking issue, seeing afresh the faces of the incarcerated. This year we have also plowed up the soil of re-entry, developing ways to teach Biblical re-entry to women behind the walls. We have seen miracles this year as well - the amazing power of forgiveness shown by an offender who forgave her stepfather after 40 years of carrying unforgiveness. That very next week, her step dad drove over 1500 miles to visit her in prison - and to ask her forgiveness. She told him she had forgiven him - a few days earlier. This woman's stepfather writes her every week now. This broken family has been reconciled.
We have had correctional officers ask us when we would do a Prayer Seminar for them. There are letters and notes and comments giving testimony to the powerful healing and restorative work of God in the lives of women and in their families. We keep stumbling into God in prison. He is reconciling the world to Himself in Christ. We watch Him work, try to do our part and not get in His way. We give Him honor and glory and praise that is due to Him and Him alone. Have Your way, Lord.
