God Talks to You With Words of Love
Last fall I took an online college class. When I look back on the
numerous books we were required to read and the dozens of
papers we were asked to turn in during the semester, I
remember one assignment more than any other. It focused on
prisoners. More than just making me sad or angry, the sordid
written accounts of abuse or injustice did their job—they
motivated me to want to do something for prisoners right now,
right where I live.
Well, I’d never visited a prison, and I simply didn’t have any
firsthand experience with those who were incarcerated. But the
feelings of helplessness or inexperience didn’t seem to stop the
yearning to do something. Finally a thought popped into my
head as I was writing a final paper for the class: Becky, why
don’t you visit a juvenile detention center in your area?
After praying about this idea, I didn’t know how or where to
begin such a process, so I zipped off a short email to a pastor
at my church and asked, “Does our church ever visit the
juvenile detention center in our county?”
He shot back a quick email reply, “We regularly take teams
to the county detention center. Why, what’s up?”
I shared my unexplainable desire to share my story with kids
who were incarcerated and perhaps even pray with them,
ideally during the upcoming Christmas holiday.
His next email response reminded me of how little I knew
about prison protocol. First, not just anyone can visit people in
jail. In addition, those who do visit prisoners must complete a
thorough background check and receive official clearance—