This past weekend was the Midwest SIAFU Men’s Conference at
Morning Star Ranch in Kansas. As I got settled there, a young man caught my attention
and smiled at me. He said, “Do you remember me?” Of course I recognized his
face, but I couldn’t place his name and remember where I had met him. I thought that I probably knew him from my
time ministering in the prison at Hutchinson. I found out his name was Tony and
that he had just been released that Wednesday. He had spent nine years on the
inside, and he had been out for three days and found himself at our men’s conference.
Now 31, he had been incarcerated since he was 22.
The rest of the conference we spent time getting to know
each other better. We talked about life inside and then about adjusting to life
on the outside. He told me that he wanted to grow to become an urban missionary
like what I did. He wants to make a difference with guys on the streets. He had
been at the revival we did in June (read about that here) and had also heard me
teach a couple other times at the prison.
One of the personal burdens I feel for the guys I work with
is that they may experience the love of the Father. So many of these men have
deep wounds from male figures that are hard to heal from. Often they need a
deep and profound encounter with the love of the Father that can provide
healing from the past. So whenever I lead prayer and ministry times with guys,
I normally include a time where we pray for them to encounter the love of the
Father.
On the last night of the conference, we closed with a worship,
prayer, and testimony time; it’s a powerful time where they can get right with
the Lord. As I was praying for this time, I felt the Father clearly say, “Lead
them to me, and I will bring healing.”
As I got up in front of the guys, I felt especially
burdened. I talked about how our father wounds can give us an orphan spirit.
This is simply a feeling that we are alone and lost and without a dad. Even
though we may be in Christ, we still feel lost and feel as though we are orphans.
I invited the guys be open and to trust that God was going to move and that the
love of the true Father would encounter them that night. I could sense the
faith in the room grow as they nodded, hungry to experience this.
As we had a prayer time and ministered, there weren’t many
dry eyes. The Spirit of God was tangibly moving throughout the room. We then
had guys come forward who wanted more prayer. Tony came right up to me and we
just hugged and prayed together. As the tears came, he kept saying how he
doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes from the past. He has felt like a failure
his whole life, but now desperately wants to change. My heart went out to him
in a deep way. I sensed such tangible love from the Father for him.
That night after praying with him and so many others, I was
overwhelmed with emotion. I thought about the millions in our cities who we are
desperate for this encounter with the Father. But there is great hope. God is
moving in our prisons and our ministry is providing opportunities for these guys
to grow and become leaders. One by one, God is changing the lives.
