‘I was in prison, and you came to me’ (Matt.25:26)

I was just in the process of filling out an application form with our state’s Department of Corrections, to visit a ‘lifer’, when it occurred to me that this situation involves a rather unusual twist on Matt. 25. 

I’ve always understood Jesus’ words to primarily refer to visiting Christians who have been imprisoned for their faith. He says in v.40, ‘. . . to the extent that you did it to these brothers of Mine’—and ‘brothers’ is a specialized term in Matthew’s Gospel (and generally in the New Testament). ‘Neighbor’ refers to anyone around me in need, while ‘brother’ refers to a fellow member of the family of God.

In other words Jesus is saying that caring for, and identifying with, the persecuted church, is an expression of our faith in Him. Those who did it in NT times knew that they were putting their own life in danger:

‘Make every effort to come to me soon;  for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica . . . .’ (2 Tim. 4:9-10)

In a sense though, Matt. 25 does pertain to visiting prisoners in general, because every prisoner (neighbor) is a potential brother or sister in Christ.

The interesting thing in this case is that I am truly hoping to visit a brother in Christ, in fact, his application for long-term service with ReachAcross arrived here in the office yesterday. Think about that—

there’s no question about his field of service, he’s already there. No visas or expensive plane flights necessary.

There’s not really any question about his calling. God has already used him in reaching Muslims, in fact, he’s written his own tracts. Normally inmates aren’t allowed to visit religious services or teaching sessions in a religion that is not their own, but it happens to be possible in this particular prison.

‘Raymond’ (not his real name) came to know Christ during his first year of incarceration. Eventually he earned his GED, or high school diploma equivalency. Then he completed a two-year, Associate of Arts degree in Bible and theology, in order to become a chaplain’s assistant. That’s what he’s doing now—and God has placed him in a dorm with a lot of Muslims.

Please pray for Raymond. It isn’t easy, and it isn’t safe, either.  In his own words:

‘In the last nine months, I have been around more stabbings, fights, and robberies than in my entire bid [slang term for prison time]! Last year there was a heinous murder/mutilation and a riot.’

Pray for us, too, as we visit Raymond and consider his application papers. Pray that a visit will be possible—normally they are very ‘picky’ with visitors, and can refuse applications for any reason whatsoever.

There are a lot of things to consider, for example even our motto (‘Helping Muslims Follow Jesus’) could be an issue for Raymond in his surroundings. We’ll need God’s wisdom as we pursue this possibility.

We don’t know the rate of conversion to Islam that is happening in our prison system, but most guesses place it pretty high. With that in mind, can you think of a better mission field?

US Director

P.S. Check out the test question on our FB page!