Uganda (MNN) — A recent mission trip to Uganda hosted 13 church services in nine prisons, proclaiming the gospel to almost 5,500 inmates. 570 came to know Jesus for the first time.
The team of seven, including Prisoners for Christ president Greg Von Tobel, said this was possible because of widespread evangelisation in central and southern Africa.
(Photo courtesy of Ehsan Habashi/Unsplash)
Von Tobel says, “When we get to some of these countries, and we have people already on the ground doing the heavy lifting before we get there, the doors are quite open.”
Born-again prison superintendents can open the doors – Von Tobel says other inmates are simply waiting to hear the Gospel.
The team also tried something new by having pediatric ophthalmologist Dr. Thomas Lenart run an eye clinic in two prisons. Between both prisons, Lenart met over 200 patients.
Lenart says, “Our main goal is for the inmates we’re in front of to know the Lord Jesus Christ, and this was just another opportunity. Spiritually, we wanted them to know His love and how He cares for them, and He is the great healer. We wanted, in a small way, to just be able to be in front of the inmates and provide them some eye care.”
The team distributed 80 pairs of reading glasses in the two prisons, and Lenart was able to diagnose glaucoma and other eye issues. He later returned to the prisons to deliver eye medications, supplementing empty prison infirmary shelves.
One patient who stuck out to Lenart was a staff member who approached the team as they left the building. The woman couldn’t read the small print of her Bible. Having distributed all of the glasses, Lenart asked another member of his team if the woman could borrow his glasses to test them.
After testing them, Lenart asked the team member if he would part with the glasses. “Actually, I won’t,” the team member responded. “They’re all scratched up and she won’t be able to see well – but in the van, I have a brand new pair of +2s.”
Lenart says, “He walked out and gave them to her, and when she put them on, she was able to see the small print. Tears were rolling down her face because she was so happy to be able to read, and she was extremely grateful to be able to use those now to be able to read her Bible.”
Though the ministry was welcomed in Uganda, Prisoners for Christ hopes new ministries like this could be a step into closed countries that are hostile to the Gospel.
It’s already making a difference on a personal level. At one small Ugandan prison, the team was in the middle of a church service when a Muslim inmate joined. Other inmates tried to shoo him away, but the host national invited him in. The host learned that the visitor was an imam who had been wrestling with evil dreams of his recently deceased mother.
The team prayed with him. Lenart says, “It was a powerful, powerful prayer. All of us were supporting him, you know, in the name of Jesus, in the blood of Jesus. [After] that prayer, the imam came to Jesus right then and there.”
Von Tobel says, “Our ministry is all about Jesus. We want to point people to the foot of the cross.”
Prisoners can be an unreached people group. There are few prison ministries outside of the United States; not many people want to go to prisons in developing countries.
As Prisoners for Christ seeks to double its global footprint, it needs more willing hands. Please pray for staff and volunteers willing to go out into the world and for the financial resources to facilitate these prison ministries.
Header photo courtesy of Donald Tong/Pexels.
