The German missionary, Dr. Immanuel Scharrer, told me to apply for a prison volunteer permit first, and then I waited at the train station for someone to pick me up for my first prison visit. I took my first solo train ride in my country and was picked up by a Filipino and a Thai minister upon my arrival.
Caught by Surprise
On our way to the prison, I was shocked to hear that we were going to a men’s prison. I had always thought that females would minister among female inmates only. I realized that once I entered the men’s prison, I would be locked in with nearly 3,000 male inmates, potentially risking my safety. When Dr. Scharrer met me and heard about my hesitation, he asked if I would enter the prison with the team, or take the next train back to my city. Within a few seconds, I told myself since God had provided the volunteer permit for me, I should go in and see what the situation was like inside the prison.
From that day on, I ministered in this men’s prison on a weekly basis. I kept the prison ministry a secret from my family and they only knew that I needed to go to another city once a week for a church ministry; otherwise, they would not let me go.
Dr. Scharrer was very kind to me. In order to ease my anxiety over my first prison visit, he accompanied me to visit different units, introduced me to the counselor of each unit, and watched me conduct a Bible study with inmates. I needed to learn their administration system and terminology quickly so I could function independently after the first trip.
Ministering Among Foreign Inmates
Some inmates told me that they came for the Bible study not because they were interested in the subject, because they just wanted to get away from their crowded prison cell and noisy workplace for a while. Others came because they knew I cared about them. I welcomed them to sit around no matter what their intentions were, since they could hear the Gospel and the love of Jesus no matter what the circumstance was. In order to give them some dignity, I always stood up to welcome them when the guard brought them into the meeting room, and greeted them by their last names instead of their prison numbers. They were all very lonely in the prison. Not being able to have their family come to visit them because of the crime they had committed in a foreign country was very hard for them. They all wished the time for them to become eligible for parole could come sooner. I began my class with prayer and also ended it with prayers for every inmate student and their families back home. Most of the inmate students were still and attentive, except for Chang.
There were only four foreign inmates in Chang’s unit, so they all sat on a bench facing me during the Bible study. Three members of the class were pretty calm and quiet, but Chang never made eye contact with me and always looked around instead, wiggling on the bench and being absent minded. Sometimes when I asked questions, he did not even bother to respond. After a few classes, I was upset and told myself that this guy was hopeless and would surely not turn to Christ. Chang had been in this prison for several years and he told me that his family had never come to visit him. He was in his early twenties, and I felt sorry for the mistake he had made.
After a few classes, I was upset and told myself that Chang was hopeless and would surely not turn to Christ.
I met Wang who was illiterate and had lost some of his front teeth while he was in another prison unit. One time when I asked around for prayer requests, Wang told me that he had severe anemia caused by heavy bleeding from painful hemorrhoids. Surgery was needed, but he did not have money to pay for it. One day he said the doctor urged him to have the surgery performed as soon as possible, so I decided to help him and kept it a secret. When the payment was designated into his account, he was very happy to tell me that his family had finally sent him the money. After the surgery, Wang resumed his attendance at the Bible study, and I was grateful to see him in improved health.
Rejoicing with New Believers
A few months after beginning the prison Bible study, I began to ask around to see if anyone was ready to accept the Lord. Of the four students sitting across from me on the bench, Chang was the one to quickly raise his right hand and look at me directly. I was shocked. In order to make sure he understood what decision he was making, I asked him questions about his salvation and he answered all correctly, so I led him to say the prayer for decision making. When I asked the question in Wang’s class, he sincerely told me that he wanted to be a Christian. Although he could not read, he asked a Christian inmate to read the Bible or a devotional book for him.
I thank God for having had the privilege of baptizing Chang, Wang, and three other inmates with a bucket of water, in a water tank, or a swimming pool. I continued the prison ministry until a week before my return to the U.S. When I bid my farewell, I thanked all of the inmate students for giving me opportunities to serve them, and I encouraged the Christians to continue growing in faith and to find a church to attend once they returned home.
God taught me a very important lesson from Chang’s conversion: that I should never give up on anyone, because conversion is not my work, but the work of the Holy Spirit.
Four of the five baptized inmate students got their parole approved and returned home soon after I came back to the U.S. The next year, I went to the prison to visit Chang and the other remaining inmate students during my visit home from work. When Chang saw me waving at him from a distance, his eyes turned red because he knew that he was not forgotten. God taught me a very important lesson from Chang’s conversion: that I should never give up on anyone, because conversion is not my work, but the work of the Holy Spirit. May Chang, Wang, and the other three baptized former prison inmates continue to grow in the faith they found in prison, and be used by God to lead others to Christ.
This prison ministry is where I first began multi-ethnic outreach and worked with a multi-ethnic team. I was invited to rejoin the staff at the Chinese mission organization in the U.S. after my sister moved back home from overseas. In this way, God graciously provided everything necessary for my relocation.
Reflection
The genuine care and love expressed by the ministry team speaks louder than our words.
The most important lesson I learned through this ministry is that I should never give up on anyone regardless of their opposition or attitude toward the Gospel, or me. Inmates need to know that God knows them by name, instead of their four-digit prison numbers. The genuine care and love expressed by the ministry team speaks louder than our words. Our team leader, Dr. Scharrer, has demonstrated his love and perseverance in this ministry. Once I saw him walk out from a cell unit after waiting for over fifteen minutes for inmates to come for his Bible study. The guard had told him to sit and wait, but no one showed up. Since we are only allowed two hours of prison visit time, that fifteen minutes was wasted. However, Dr. Scharrer quietly moved on to visit the next cell unit without demanding an answer from the cell guard. Later, I learned from other teammates that this happened to them often. I will always remember how Dr. Scharrer, as the leader, set himself as an example for his teammates to follow.
Relational Realism for Christian Ministry 關係論與基督教事工 