From a Mexican Prison

(Get comfy - it's a long one, but also a really, really good one!)

For the last three years, Dan and I have been helping out with Mexico Outreach at APU.  Amazing ministry, check it out if you're ever interested in serving with us!  (www.apu.edu/mexout)  We are the camp deans for the Summer 1 trip at the end of June, and we lead an alumni team that goes as well.  We have taken the girls every time and love the chance to show the girls another culture and serve together as a family.

This past June's trip was the first time we really started telling people we were feeling called to foster/adopt, and saying it out loud really started confirming it in us!  It was amazing to hear people's prayers and encouragement for us as we shared our hearts.

As always, it was an amazing week of ministry, but this story is about our last day there.  We had visited all the ministry sites, and on the last day our team was invited to go into the prison to hand out some shoes.  (Mexican prison is sooo different!  Their clothes and basic necessities aren't provided, so family members or friends have to provide for the prisoners.  If you don't have any, you're out of luck.  Mexico Outreach has teams who go in and try to help those who have nothing and need clothes, shoes, and toiletries.  We bring lunch in with us, have a time of singing and sharing, and can share the Gospel - it's such an amazing ministry.)

Anyway, our team was thrilled to go.  I have been "in prison" a few other times in Mexico, but never in Ensenada.  During our free time with the women at the end, I caught the eye of one lady and she approached me.  I was so surprised at how well she spoke English! 

I asked her how she was, and how I could pray for her.  She was very quick to share with me that she was in jail because of drugs, and she wanted prayer for her kids because she didn't know where they were.

I asked her if she was going through withdraws and how her body was.  She said she was over them now, and now that her head was clear, she felt so, so sorry for doing drugs and neglecting her kids.  She was glad to be clean of the drugs, but she was sorry for being a bad mom.  She missed them so much.  She had no idea where they were or when she was going to see them again. 

As my heart broke for this woman who looked so kind and shared so easily, the Holy Spirit gave me a few verses to share with her to encourage her (Oh, for the power of His Spirit!  How He always gives me the right words when I need them...how did I go straight to those verses??).  As I opened my Bible, she read the verses in English!  She could even READ English!  I talked her through them and tried to encourage her that the Lord gives us grace and second chances.

I only had a few minutes with her, and the call to leave came.  I asked her if she was interested in learning more about Jesus, who was able to forgive her mistake.  She said yes, she was - so eagerly!  I didn't have much time, so I pointed out the other ladies in the prison I knew were believers.  I told her that they had Bibles, and to ask them more about Jesus since this was our last day.  I told her to read the book of John to start.  She agreed, and said she was so grateful for my encouragement.

I prayed with her quickly, and just like that we had to line up to leave.  And that's when it happened.  As we were standing in line, waiting on the guards, the Lord's voice came upon me and I began to cry.

"Kristi, this woman's children are the kind of children who are going to need you and Dan.  This woman is my daughter.  She made a bad choice, but I love her and her kids.  And I'm going to show my love to others like them because you are going to take care of their kids in the foster system."

Confession: it's been a long time since I've heard the Lord's voice that clearly.  And it was heartbreaking.  And powerful.  And such a strong confirmation.  Confirmation!  Dan and I are just obeying the call we heard, and the Lord is choosing to confirm our obedience every step of the way!  What are the chances, out of all those ladies, that this one wanted to talk to me about her kids who were taken away from her?

That day in the prison was tough.  It opened my eyes to the other side - the parent of the kids we will be taking in our homes.  Who was this woman?  How was she introduced to drugs?  Was it one bad friend?  Was it a guy she wanted to impress?  How did she learn English so well?  Where are her kids?  I'll never know the answers, but I bet she never intended things to get so bad.  I bet she just made a few bad choices.  I bet the Lord wants so much more for her.  I hope I can approach the birth parents of our foster kids with the same kind of grace and understanding, after knowing they have neglected their kids enough for them to end up in the system.

Would you pray for us about this?  Would you pray we would have compassion on those parents when we meet them in May?  Would you pray we would even have the chance to encourage them with God's Word and with the Gospel?  Would you pray that our hearts remain soft to the situation and that we wouldn't be tempted to be judgmental?  Even now, would you pray they would be repentant for their mistakes and be open to accepting Jesus' forgiveness?

I can't quite describe the peace and joy that comes from truly following Jesus' call.  Forgive me if this just sounds cheesy, but it's the place where we find our very purpose and existence!  This is what we were MADE to do!

Thanks in advance for these prayers.  Isn't it great knowing we have a God of restoration?  A God who takes the broken and fixes?  A God who takes the hurting and comforts?  A God who takes neglect and fear, and turns it into love!  I pray with every ounce of me that we can reflect our God's attributes every step through this process.