April 7, 2008

by Sheila Walsh on 04/07/2008 01:04

Log on to www.SheilaWalsh.Com for the final week of the Big Spring Clearance in the E-Store.

Dear Friends,

I am sitting at the departure lounge in Little Rock Airport reflecting on the events of this amazing weekend. This one will stay with me for a long time. A few months ago, I received an e-mail from Lynda who had been at our last Little Rock conference. She asked me if I might be able to speak at the women's prison in Wrightsville, Arkansas on the Thursday before the conference this year. I was very excited to say yes. That evening, Lynda, her sister, and friend picked me up at the hotel and we drove to the prison that has a program called "The Inner Change Freedom Initiative". Inmates volunteer to be part of an eighteen-month intense values-based program based on the Word of God. The banner over their ministry is a verse from 2 Corinthians:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

The fifty women in the program are kept in a separate unit from the rest of the prison population. On Thursday night, however they opened the chapel service to the whole prison. A few of the inmates who are Christians led in worship before I spoke. What an incredibly moving experience to be able to worship with other believers who for now spend their lives behind bars and barbed wire fences.

I spoke on "what is freedom?" The heart of my message was that freedom is not the absence of bars but the presence of Christ. I met many women that night who are more free even though they live within the walls of a prison than many believers whose prisons are internal but powerful. I sang a song from my new country CD called "When I Get Where I'm Going." I love this song, originally recorded by Brad Paisley. The lyric says:

When I get where I'm going
They'll be only happy tears
I will shed these sins and struggles
I have carried all these years
And I'll leave my heart wide open
I will love and have no fear
When I get where I'm going
Don't cry for me down here.

I will never forget the sight of these women standing with their hands in the air, tears rolling down their faces. What a special night.

After I finished speaking I was listening to some of the women tell me part of their stories when a siren went off, warning that a tornado was headed our way and we had to take cover. The inmates took their mattresses out of their sleeping quarters and hid under them in the hall while the rest of us took cover in the bathroom. The tornado missed us but decimated a small town three miles away. Back at the hotel in Little Rock, all the Women of Faith team were evacuated from their rooms but thankfully the tornado missed them too. Life on the road is not boring!

The conference was wonderful. Women came ready to worship and enter in. In the audience were three women who had been released from prison but were still part of the IFI mentoring program. I believe this is the best conference we have ever had. The messages are so strong and deep and the music and drama are powerful. If you haven't been in a while, this is the year to come back!

Well, our flight is about to board but before I close, may I offer a suggestion of how your life can be touched by reaching out to those who are incarcerated? Jesus is very close to those who are broken and lost. I felt the weight of His presence in that prison on Thursday evening.

Matthew's Gospel records Jesus words:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.

Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, "Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? - And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?" Then the King will say, "I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me."

You may not be able to visit a prison but perhaps you could write a letter or donate some clothes or food to a homeless shelter. There are many hospice facilities or retirement homes who would welcome volunteers or some homemade soup or cookies. We live in a world that is steeped in pain and broken dreams and it is our honor to reach out in Jesus' name with his love and his life-trust me you will receive more than you are ever able to give.

My prayer for you this week is that you will be filled with the love of Jesus and gifted with His eyes to see, His ears to hear and His heart to respond.

In His love,

Sheila

PS-I'm sure most of you remember Lisa Pierre who led our Women of Faith worship team for many years. Lisa has just completed her first solo project which I have and love. If you'd like to check that out you can do so at http://web.mac.com/lisapierre1

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