November 7
Today we went to the
city of Tamara to visit the National Men's Prison there. There are about 4,000
men housed there. The day was beautiful and cool. We were
taken to a very nice open air worship area. There we would participate in the
graduation of about 40 men from the Prisoner's Journey Program. This is is 6-8
week program of evangelism and introduction to Jesus. Then immediately
following they will be going on to do the Train and Multiply Program, which
will train them in discipleship in the coming year. This will prepare them to
be mature followers of Jesus. At the graduation they were given a Bible and a diploma. Most had never had a Bible before. It was a treasure to them. We were
blessed to shake their hands and witness this wonderful celebration.
Across the rest of that prison, programs are being held in Train and Multiply
and the Prisoner's Journey. A total of 980 men are actively involved in these
programs throughout the prison system since the program started approximately one year
ago. One amazingly beautiful thing beautiful is that the Catholic
Church there at the prison is holding a class in The Prisoner's Journey! This
kind of collaboration does not happen often, but as it happens more frequently
we as "The Church,"will be able to help fulfill the One Billion
Vision that the Lord has given to OMS - one billion lives reached with the Gospel message in the next 10 years. We are so blessed to be a small part of
what the Lord and His servants are doing in the prisons of Honduras.🙏🙏
After the
ceremony we were introduced to another group of volunteers who work in the
prison of Tamara. One of them spoke English! He had been in prison in the US
when he found Jesus! So now he is working here in Honduras to bring the Gospel
to his fellow prisoners. He also wants to work together with Prison Fellowship
Honduras. So the Lord orchestrates the
meetings of His hands and feet! We see this often! The love of our Savior and
The Gospel bringing us together.
Another special moment happened at the closing of the ceremony. They brought us pop and two small chicken
burritos to eat. So sweet and generous. Herasmo said we should try to eat it because they
want to share this special time with us. So Gary and I and Herasmo drank the
pop and ate the burritos 🌯 with them. It was their celebration
and we were honored to share in it. Herasmo knows I sometimes have problems
with the foods here, but I knew the Lord would bless this food that they shared
with us. Another blessing to end the wonderful morning.
Another PS to this
story! As I was writing this I neglected to share that Gary was able speak a
word of encouragement to the graduates! He told them how much of a blessing the
success of this program is to us and to both OMS and Prison Fellowship
International. They woven into our lives,hearts and prayers.🙏
