Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Blessed by a Prisoner - by Becky Bandstra

Becky Bandstra is a member of Calvary Christian Reformed Church in Pella, Iowa.  I asked Becky & her husband Bryan to attend the Come & See Event in Sioux Falls, SD.  I'm so glad they said "Yes!"  On Thursday night, she attended worship services at the St. Dysmas prison church.  St. Dysmas is the name the early church gave to the thief on the cross who was welcomed to Paradise by Christ.  St. Dysmas is a Lutheran church that meets every Thursday night and ends each service with the Lord's Supper.



Becky's words ~ I've had an interest in prison ministry since the first time I read about Prison Fellowship's work in prisons across the nation.  So, when my husband and I were invited to attend the Come & See Event, I was intrigued and interested to learn more about what was involved in planting a church inside a prison.  During these two days I was inspired by the prison church pastors and their wives and the love they pour out to the inmates.  I was amazed and blessed by the testimonies of the inmates on the prison council who take their leadership roles as elders very seriously and who talk about how being part of a church congregation is like finding a new family, making them feel like a human being again, someone with worth and value.  But what made the most impression on me was when I went up to receive communion and was served the wine by one of the inmate elders, a young man serving a life sentence.  I looked up into his face, and with his eyes shining and a smile on his face he said, "This is Christ's blood given for you." I couldn't help but think, "this is someone whom the world would look upon as 'the least of these' and someone with no future outside of prison to look forward to.  Yet, he has just blessed _me_ while fulfilling his leadership role in his church."  I was humbled and so thankful to see how God can use everyone to be vessels of his love, including inmates.  And it all started because of one prison congregation, who called a pastor to plant a church in this prison, who introduced this young man to Christ and loved and discipled him.

Prison Congregations

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