A Daylight volunteer writes…
“I was recently part of a prison team that went to take Daylight’s first Sunday service in a prison in the South East. Over sixty men came to the service and it was a privilege to have the opportunity to share the gospel with them.
One of Daylight’s Prison Ministry Associates (PMAs) read from 2 Kings 5, and then another spoke on the passage. He told them that Naaman had it all, he was wealthy and powerful but he had leprosy. He then explained how leprosy is like sin.
At one point he used the illustration of a courtroom. If you were in court and you were guilty of the crime and someone came in and offered to serve your sentence for you, how great that would be.
We are all guilty of sin, and deserve eternal punishment, but God gave His Son to pay the price for us.
He closed by taking the men to Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”
The men listened well and we pray that what they heard will stay with them and have an effect on their lives.
We sang several hymns in the service and one prisoner asked if our closing hymn, Amazing Grace could be sung in memory of his brother who had recently died.
After the service, we had time to speak to the men and had lots of good conversations.
One man who had been listening very well and agreeing with what was being said during the sermon came and thanked me for playing the piano and asked if we would be back next week. He professes to be a Christian and said he knows he has made a mistake.
Another from the Vulnerable Prisoners wing came and asked me to play Be Still For The Presence Of The Lord for him. He appeared to be quite down and really appreciated having the hymn played.
There was a prisoner there who was a Spaniard and said he was a Roman Catholic. He had a very well worn Bible and another prisoner from Congo who speaks four languages, was helping him to understand what was said in the service.
One prisoner asked two of us to pray with him for himself and the other prisoners and all their families.
One of Daylight’s PMAs is a Gideon and had taken some New Testaments in with him. They are given to the prisoners on the condition that they read them, and they all went very rapidly. One was given to a prisoner who is inside for the first time and has just been sentenced to seven and a half years.
We also took in daily Bible reading notes and postcards with Scripture texts on, which the men took back to their cells. We trust these will be used in their lives.
The service was very encouraging and we hope the first of many opportunities in this prison.”
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