Mercy and Grace in Prison

For three years, I lived in a desert area. When the rains came, the thorn trees burst out with fresh leaves. Overnight, it seemed a transformation took place. Butterflies appeared and songbirds flew about.

In that hot, dry area, another transformation took place. My father was a full-time chaplain ministering to thousands of Kenyan men who had been apprehended by the British colonial administration. Some were sentenced to one year in prison, other men in the uprising against Great Britain had to serve two years.

With a strong British accent, it might have been dangerous for my father to spend hours each day in the cells. In some of them, upward of 100 men were housed in what had been former airport hangers. Theoretically, he could have been physically hurt in one way or another.

Instead, hundreds of one-time rebels against the Kenyan government were saved as they trusted in the Savior. One man said, “Before the Gospel was preached to us, everyone here was talking about rebellion; now, everyone is talking about the Lord Jesus.”

Another stated, “We get food and water and medical care, but it isn’t those things that made us different. Only the Word of God could have done that.”

A Christmas thought: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God… to all who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:1,12,17