Visiting Kids in Prison

Matthew 25: 35-36 says this:

For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.

This past weekend was the Bill Glass Weekday of Champions - Youth for the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. A day in which several hundred like minded people get together to visit and share the gospel of Jesus to those who are in prison. Or in this case, juvenile detention centers. It broke my heart going to this one, and my heart continues to break just thinking about it.

I went to a center in Dallas that had 24 residents in it. (They don't call juveniles offenders or inmates here.) Kids. Some of these kids were as young as 14, some as old as 17 and the breakdown of demographics was staggering:

• Out of the 24, there was one white, 4 hispanic and the 19 black residents.
• At least 5 had one or both parents in prison.
• At least 3 had children of their own.
• There were 16 girls and 8 boys.
  

Since I have two girls of my own, I was blessed enough to be in a small group with the team leader and another older female team member, along with 4 of the female residents. As we all shared and talked, I kept thinking that my oldest is 10, and the youngest in our group was only 14. All of them talked about high school and who knew whom, and when the discussion turned to Christ and going to Heaven or Hell, they didn't know. The team lead allowed me to lead the group discussion and to make a long story short, all four girls professed to have surrendered to Christ a long time ago and wanted to rededicate their lives to Him. It was a humbling moment.

All in all it was a good day,and I think that perhaps this type of evangelism may be my calling. I am still praying about it. I will be going into training to lead Bible studies at the centers after the November weekend of champions I'll be a part of.

If you have kids, hug them today and tell them how much you love them. The kids I met this past Saturday, didn't get that kind of affection and it showed.

Please join me in praying for the kids here in the Dallas area centers, that they will grow in Christ and study and pray.

Have a blessed day.
Eric