Prisoners would often be seen playing football with
a human skull. This horrendous cauldron of brutality was brought to an end: not
by military intervention; but by a spiritual awakening to the Gospel. The breakthrough in 1990, which ended the
riots, is referred to as “The White Flag Campaign” - at midday on a certain day, all the prisoners who wished to end the violence were asked to wave a white paper handkerchief out of the bars of their prison cell. Prison authorities take their cue on moving Christian prisoners,
when they have finished their training as evangelists and pastors.
“God is reaching the lowest and most desperate.
Bellavista Prison is a maximum-security prison in Medellin that was often
called “hell on earth” where the murder rate often topped one per day. Through
prayer and the bold witness of some anointed believers the prison has seen a
remarkable turning of the most hardened criminals to Christ. Large numbers of
the inmates are now believers, and round the clock prayer chains often
function. The spirit of murder has all but disappeared, and the brutal
conditions improved. Now, a Bible Institute has formed in the prison, training
inmates for ministry once they are released.”
(A quotation from: ‘Colombia’, “Operation World” -
the encyclopedic reference book on World Missions)
Jeannine Brabon, OMS missionary, Professor of Old
Testament at the Biblical Seminary of Colombia, and founder member of the
Prison Fellowship of Antioquia
This is an outline of her first, nervous, sermon in
Bellavista Prison.
“I wonder if you know what the word ‘mercy’ means?”
she asked. “To illustrate, I would
like to tell you the story of King David of Israel. The Bible describes him as ‘a man after God’s own heart’. He was the finest ruler his country had
ever known. Nevertheless, he had his
enemies.”
Jeannine told the story of David’s conflict with the
jealous King Saul: of the many attempts on David’s life, by Saul, of the Saul’s
son who was David’s best friend.
She recounted the tragic events of the Battle of
Mount Gilboa: how Saul ended his life by falling on his sword, and the
Philistine army wiped out the royal family.
All this opened the way for David to become King.
When he was firmly enthroned, to honour the memory
of his friend Jonathan, he brought his lame and impoverished son Mephibosheth
(meaning “man of shame”) to live freely in his court. David found him in Lodebar (meaning “nowhere”). Normally kings of the time annihilated
their enemy’s family. Jeannine saw nods of understanding, when she
mentioned annihilating enemies.
“But David had experienced the love of God. The Hebrews have a special word for it:
“hesed”. We translate it
“loving-kindness”. It is steadfast
love that never ceases, no matter how badly we behave or how little we deserve
it.”
The King showed “hesed” to the poor man, and brought
him into his palace in Jerusalem (meaning “City of Peace”). This is a picture of God’s mercy. “God loves every one of us in exactly the
same way, no matter how badly we behave or how little we deserve it.”
Twenty-three professional assassins and terrorists
had tears streaming down their faces, as they stood to show their desire to
receive God’s love, and be prayed with.
“The Lord of Bellavista”, by David Miller, SPCK,
1998, £5.99
REMARKABLE STATISTICS
This Sunday the total congregations in USA, Canada,
UK, Australia and New Zealand – are equal to the number worshiping in
Nigeria. The Church’s hub is moving
from New York, London, The Vatican, to the Third World: Seoul, etc
Jesus House, Brent Cross, London, is part of the
Redeemed Church of God, which started in Nigeria in the 1950’s. There are over 700 congregations in the UK –
and growing rapidly – this one sees 2,500 attending, and holds two services on
a Sunday. Both Prince Charles and the
Prime Minister (Cameron) have attended.
(BBC, Songs of Praise, 24.MAY.2015)
