Outreach in Oaxaca Prison

It was Saturday morning and the kitchen at Casa Hogar was bustling with activity as kids and adults were preparing 650 sandwiches with ham and putting them in packs with a drink to pass out to prisoners at the main prison in Oaxaca, Ixcotel. We were preparing for an event in the prison that we had been praying about for weeks.

After all the preparations were made we left for the prison. Once there we waited at the big, steel doors with our truck idling, waiting for what appeared to be the chief of security to let us into the prison. We were accompanied by this man at all times during our visit. He was a very nice man, very patient, and we offered him one of our sandwiches after we had entered, as a token of our gratitude. We were finally escorted through the big steel doors with bags of sandwiches, and we were told to line up in the exact order in which we would leave. There were about twenty of us, and we carried band equipment and bags of food over a couple hundred meters, and began to prepare for the event.

While the musical groups prepared their equipment and their instruments, the rest of us started to talk with the gathering prisoners. Weekends are a time when families visit, so the prison yard was crowded and lively, with couples and families strolling up and down the grounds. We were next to an area where many men were working hard making bags with plastic twine, sewing soccer balls, and sewing intricate designs on leather belts. The musical group, four men from San Baltazar Guelavia whose front man played the accordion, and played very well, began to play, and our event had begun. The four men played for an hour, and the worship songs were excellent. Many people gathered to the seats which had been prepared. The crowd stood on their feet much of the time, clapping and singing along loudly with the band.

Both this first band and the group that followed provided the missionaries and the crowd with plenty of time to socialize, with some us picking up conversations with prisoners which lasted for most of the music time. We chatted about where we were from, about the stories of the prisoners, and what they were now doing in the prison. After the group from San Baltazar had left, another group of three men with guitars from San Juan del Río came up. These men played more traditional Mexican music, which the crowd again enjoyed a lot.

After the music was over, Enrique, the Prison outreach director for the mission came up to speak. He thanked Christ for the ability to put on such an event in this prison, and hoped that the Holy Spirit would reach and be felt by all in the prison. He then introduced Edgar Rivera, our mission administrator, to give a sermon. Edgar spoke passionately about the need for Christ in our lives, and that we must acknowledge our weakness and repeated failures in our lives if we are to conquer them.

His message seemed to deeply affect the hearts of the prisoners, who had spoken privately about some of their inability to kick drug habits and to save their lives, despite meaningful pleas for help from their friends and family. The prison yard, though still busy with activity, was quiet and still in our corner of the grounds during Edgar's sermon. Prisoners and missionaries looked on, nodding, with their eyes locked upon the Word of the Lord being said before them. Edgar finished by making a call to raise hands for those who had accepted Christ. Slowly one hand went up, then another and another. Many had made a commitment and though some hands were not raised, you could see the beginnings of Christ working in their eyes, though their hands remained still. Edgar then gave a prayer for all those in the prison to find the saving grace of Jesus in their lives, and prayed for peace for all those in attendance.

The music started back up, and both bands returned separately to the stage and continued to gather the crowd. This time the daughter and son of Enrique, Esmeralda and Luis, joined the stage and continued with the quality of music put on by the previous groups. After another hour of music, we began to distribute all the sandwiches that had been brought. Of course, prisoners began coming from the corners of the prison to receive sandwiches, though the missionaries played along by throwing sandwiches to those on the second floor and handing them out to all who came, regardless of their purpose or their time at the event. Some of the older, female missionaries even impressed the prisoners with their throws up to the second floor, none of which missed their target.

Everyone participated in the distributing of food, and as the music finished up, we began dismissing for the night. As we loaded up the truck with equipment, we had many more visitors and friends to chat with than when we had entered. We were given a passionate goodbye by the pastor at the prison, Brother Bulfrano. He shared with Edgar that not only had a number of prisoners given their hearts to the Lord but also two of the guards did as well. We had a fun attempt at exiting with the security guards, who enjoyably had trouble pronouncing our North American friends' names. We loaded out of the big steel doors and into our cars, and headed back to the home.