Tuesday, May 14, 2002
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
God gives the desolate a home to live in; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious live in a parched land.
(Psalm 68.6
NRSV)
Ron Nikkel is the director of Prison Fellowship
International, and he has visited prisons in over 5O
countries. He was asked recently by a reporter for the
worst case he has seen in a prison, and he told about a
prison in Zambia. Along with Char1es Colson, Ron went
with a former prisoner who had told them about a secret
inner prison for the worst offenders. For 23 hours a day
the inmates of this secret inner prison were confined to
a space so cramped that they could not all lie down at
once. One hour a day they got to walk around a courtyard.
There were no sanitation facilities and the blazing sun
made breathing barely possible. Yet when told who the
visitors were, 8O out of the 12O prisoners went to the
back wall and assembled in rows. At a given signal they
began to sing Christian hymns in four-part harmony.
Thirty-five of those men would soon face execution. Ron
said, "I was overwhelmed by the contrast between their
peaceful, serene faces and the horror of their
surroundings. Just behind them, in the darkness, I could
make out an elaborate charcoal sketch drawn on the wall.
It showed Jesus, stretched out on a cross. The prisoners
must have spent hours working on it. And it struck me
with great force that Christ was there with them. He was
sharing their suffering, and giving them joy enough to
sing in such a place." Ron added, "I was supposed to
speak to them, to offer some inspiring words of faith.
But I could only mumble a few words of greeting. They
were the teachers, not I."
God of peace, continue to teach me your way of peace. Amen.
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