Couple's evening and Sokyryany Prison...

Max and Nastya belong to an exciting young church that has some wonderful ministries to young families and kids!  Nastya is very clever and creative!  She and some of her friends transformed a rather plain sanctuary area into a fancy restaurant type setting for their couple's group. They asked me to speak for about an hour during their time together but it went for almost three hours!  After I finished sharing the things that the Holy Spirit had put on my heart, the questions just kept coming!  I was rather nervous about the extended time because many of their kids were being babysitted just across the hallway.   But the kids seem to have fun with each other and the parents felt like they were on a fun night out!  After we had talked for a while, I took the men out to share with them about a secret covenant marriage group we started about five years ago.  I think now there might be as many as 500 husbands involved.  Sue took the women for their own time and it was so much fun that even after the evening was over, they gathered up again to ask her questions and share some of their challenges!   During the night I became aware of a critical disease  one of the brothers had.  Max and I laid hands on him while Sue was teaching and I believe that God wants to intervene on behalf of this young man's life- we are waiting to hear more from the Lord and this new friend about what God has done...  

After the couple's time, I didn't realize that some of our friends from the night before in the village church near Jury's house had put on another dinner and were waiting for us!  We got there a little after 9 pm and went until almost 11, talking about Jesus, sharing and praying.  During the prayer time we learned of a crisis that had just happened in one of the couple's life that day.  The timing seemed like another one of God's perfect interventions and I think much peace was brought to that couples home! When we made it back to the discipleship house, exhausted but full of thanksgiving, we learned that our trip to Sokyryany prison required that we get up by 5:30 am for that full day adventure!  And, also Jury had agreed to take us to a regional conference of churches on our way back home - at which I was the keynote speaker!  I know that when there are only fumes left, Christ is able, but I wasn't sure I was!   

The prison time was amazing!  We haven't been there for three or four years for a multitude of reasons, but several of the guards were excited to see us back and one young warden's assistant from years ago is now the chief warden.  He came into work on his day off and personally hosted our time there!  All the prisoners were new to us- that has never happened before. When our good friend, Chaplain Volodya, asked if anybody knew us, not one raised their hand!  The good news is that many of our long time friends who were themselves prisoners, have been released- they are family men now, some have their own (legitimate) business, some have become pastors, deacons and leaders in their churches and communities- Amazing Grace!!   I told the men that I wasn't there to preach- that God had sent us to remind them that they were loved and hadn't been forgotten!  I said I don't know why each of you are here but I do know that you have a choice to start returning God's love and start loving others like God loves, which would change everything in their lives! We had some fun dialogue with them about some of the goofy things we had done on previous visits, which really softened that hard veneer that comes with prison life.  At the end I asked if we could pray for them as we had done in the past and Jury Kushnir started a worship song, which they hadn't been doing for a long time either.  They sang with increasing enthusiasm and then came up one by one- in front of everybody- to know what they had to do to start a life with Jesus, prayer for family members who were suffering largely because of their sins and to seek strength for the time that remained on their sentence!   I told them what God had done in this prison in the past when they stopped fighting and started taking care of each other and the guards!  The Holy Spirit was with all of us and it was difficult to leave!  Our friend, Roman, the prison psychologist finally had to kick us out, because the time alloted to us by the government in Kiev was over!   We were able to spend a few minutes with some of the guards on the way out and finally headed to the outside world again...   We had a great lunch afterward with our dear friends, Chaplin Volodya and his sweet wife Maria. One of the funny things that happened when we were eating lunch- a prisoner in the highest security area, underground, where electronics are strictly forbidden- gave us a call from his hidden cell phone which he had bribed a guard to give him. He wanted to know how our time was and why we had come!?  This is his third time in prison- interestingly, he is an orthodox priest, in this time for murder!