Sharing God’s Word to Encourage Others - The Mission Team Visits the Local Jail and Shares Prayer with Local Families
Mission team members visit a local jail to share worship in Nicaragua.
Written by: Collin Locker
Today was a wonderful day! As this is my first mission trip, I had no idea what to expect but I couldn’t be happier with how it all has gone. We started off with quiet, one-on-one time with God at 5 a.m. followed by group conversation in which we were joined by another group here at REAP Grenada. This led directly to breakfast. After we were all charged up for the day, we split into two groups, men and women. The women led a woman’s ministry and helped with childcare, while the men traveled to the jail.
While we were not allowed to approach any of the prisoners, we delivered the good word to all of them. We brought portable speakers to worship together. We shared our testimonies, and then Angel delivered a message. While all the men told us they already knew Christ, they prayed with us to rededicate their lives, and I have never seen something so wonderful! Before leaving we blessed them with fresh coffee and bread but unfortunately we were not able to do more. We wanted to give the prisoners bibles so that they could read and study the word while being incarcerated, but unfortunately the guard told us that it was not allowed. Our driver and interpreter, Alejandro, eased our minds saying that even though we could not gift them bibles, he and others will continue the ministry and hope the prisoners will be allowed to have bibles soon.
Following our morning activities, we all came back together for lunch and then we went for a prayer walk. While we didn’t get very far down the road, we prayed with a young family, coincidently related to Alejandro, for the continued health and strength of their 5 month old son, Joshua. Not only was he born premature during a high-risk pregnancy, Joshua has struggled with asthma, bad enough to stifle his breathing. He is healthy and well today, and we pray that he continues to be strengthened by God. His sister, Alexa, also chose to give her life to Christ today. The family wanted to show off the litter of puppies their dog had 7 weeks ago and it was wonderful to get to hold them.
Just moments after we finished praying with Joshua’s family, a young man named Johnathan approached our group seeking prayer. He confessed that even though he is only 17, he has been struggling with drug addiction. He told us that he wants to get better, to beat his addiction, even though he’s involved in a rough crowd and is negatively influenced by friends. He gave his life to Jesus before we had to part ways and our team gave him encouragement to continue on the right path. We hope to see him at REAP Grenada before we leave but either way, we connected him to the ministry for the addicted at REAP.
After the prayer walk, we split into our two groups again to go to local micro-church services. The lady’s group shared an excellent time of fellowship. However, due to some logistical and transportation issues, the men were unable to make it to their micro-church. Instead, we spent time in fellowship with each other and other men we’ve met here at REAP Grenada.
We ended our evening with a delicious dinner and our nightly devotional. It was a wonderful day and I am tremendously excited to see what tomorrow will bring!
