Prison - Jesus - Mothers

From Mike:
Last night started with hearing from the young men, many of them moving closer to A phase (90 days with no violations). We get a status every time we go and we praise them when they make it, and we encourage them to work to get it back if they lose it.

Susie talked to them about why we didn't visit two weeks ago, that we had been on vacation. She talked about seeing our daughter at college and they talked about getting post cards from northern California. She held up the boxes of Mother's days cards and said ok, Sunday is Mothers day. Mike is going to read some Bible passages and then we will write cards.
So I opened with Luke 19:10- For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. I told them that included Mary- included his brothers.

Then I said turn to John 2:1-12, the story of Jesus and Mary at the wedding in Cana. Before I could go any further, Ivan said "I want to read."  I was so surprised by this. So amazed that God wanted these young convicts to share the Bible with each other. I said ok, go for it. And he read, read beautifully. He had a little trouble with Caperneum, but other than that he was good. After Ivan finished I told him what a great job he had done. Then I mentioned a few things from that passage, about how Mary didn't tell Jesus what to do, she just said they have no wine and told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. She knew Jesus could solve the problem; she had faith that he would.

The next passage was Matthew 12:46-50. Several of the young men said I want to read, I picked Brown, who was brand new and had just received his Bible. He read about where Jesus is told his Mother and brothers are outside the door and want to talk to Him. But he reply was "who is my Mother and who is my Brother? Those who do the will of God". Both Susie and I talked to them about this being a message to them. How they can become Brothers with Jesus. By doing his will, by asking Him in their life. They really liked that.

Then we moved to John 7:3-5. By now many of them want to read. Ivan wants to read again. But Sterling is picked and he reads about how Jesus brothers didn't believe him (John 7:5). I pointed this out to them. That even his own brothers didn't believe him at first.

Then we moved on to John 19:25-28. By now everyone it seems like wants to read. I picked Christopher this time. He has been to almost all of our studies and always wants to contribute. He read about Jesus on the cross. About Jesus looking down at his Mother and saying to John, "Here is your Mother." I reminded them that Jesus even hanging on the cross, suffering through the worst still wanted to make sure that his Mother was taken care of, and that John understood and that John immediately took her with him.

Finally we went to Acts 1:12-14 Kevin read about the names of the 12 who were there and then at the end of verse 14- "and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers." I pointed it out to them that at the end, after he had risen from the dead and gone to heaven, His Mother and His Brothers were together with the Disciples and were still following.

I have no idea how this happened. I never imagined going to a California state Prison and listening to the prisoners tell the story of Jesus. But last night God made that happen. Your prayers made that happen. Your gifts of Bibles. I am so blessed to be a small part of it.

From Susie:
It was wonderful to be able to see the boys last night, I have missed them!  We were greeted with many hugs, as usual and the boys were already assembled and waiting for us - we saw 20 last night.  The room seemed so full last night and there were a few new faces - Juan, Kevin and Wahye.  All three of them received Bibles.  We are still hearing, with enthusiasm, that they are LOVING the letters they are receiving from all of you who have signed Bibles.  THEY LOVE IT!!!  THANK YOU!!!

It was very hot and stuffy in the room last night, but they were very courteous and orderly.  You never know how it's going to go...  I loved getting updates on A Level status.  Even Anthony is close to achieving his A Level and I am so proud of him.  They are responding to having someone track their progress and be interested in how they are doing.  Praise God!!

I had time to talk with Kyle as soon as we arrived to get an update on his illness.  He has been told he has lymphoma and is having a biopsy at USC today.  We have a special friend who works at USC who is trying to locate him so that she can offer support to him, but she hasn't been able to find him in the USC system yet.  Please pray that she will find him so that the Lord can bless Kyle with her love, support, encouragement and knowledge. 

When Ivan offered to read scripture aloud, Mike and I were both taken by surprise.  Ivan is VERY small and very quiet.  He fears being deported when he is released, and is somewhat clumsy with his English skills.  So for him, of all of the boys, to offer to read aloud was wonderful.  He read with confidence and was able to easily locate the verses Mike was referring the group to.  Several of them could, but many of them needed page numbers - which is the reason that we wanted all of them to have the same Bible, same translation, same version.  It was great to be able to refer them to page numbers... THANK YOU for the Bibles!!!

When we gathered in the prayer circle, I asked everyone to pray for Kyle.  There are typical "clique" dynamics in the group, so for  all of them to pray for someone is asking a lot - but they all did.  I am always in awe during prayer time - at the way the boys thank God for waking them up for another day, getting them through another day, asking for blessings on their families.  Kyle's prayer was from his soul... and when he said, "I believe" with a pause... I had tears.  God is getting Kyle's attention.  Please continue to pray for Kyle's treatment and healing, and that he will have care providers who are compassionate and kind.

Michael joined us just before the prayer circle.  I have always called Michael "Smiley" because he is always so joyful.  His heart was hurting last night as he shared with me about his mom and dad having let him down several times over the last couple of weeks by not showing up for events or activities.  He expects his dad to visit on Saturday, and then said that if he doesn't show up, he needs to "let him go."  He had tears in his eyes as he shared with me and my heart ached for him.  He stood next to me and asked to be able to pray first, which he did.

The boys wrote mother's day cards, and those who don't have access to stamps gave the cards to us so we could mail them.  They are attached for you to read... I was blessed to receive three cards from Anthony, Louis and Kemone.

There was so much going on last night that the prayer request book did not get passed around.  Please pray for all of the boys, that their hearts, ears and eyes would be open to the Lord.  Please also pray for the facility as they are experiencing major changes in the security staff at this time.  Pray that there would be unity amongst the youth, and the staff.

There was eagerness to read and understand scripture last night.  There was intensity in their participation and their respectfulness.  There was appreciation during the prayer circle for us "bringing them the Word of God."  It is both humbling and glorious to watch God at work during this minutes we are there.

We are now visiting the facility weekly - Gibbs Unit (this unit) every other Thursday and Futch Unit (the new unit) every other Tuesday.  We will visit Futch next Tuesday.

Learning to love like Jesus,

Susie and Mike