God in the Prisons

“NO!” my friend yelled out in the middle of a church service. Her friends sitting next to her stared in amazement. This was not like Carole. But she had just heard from the Lord, “I want you to go into full-time prison ministry!”

Carole Ross had been working as a prison guard in Gatesville, Texas, and wanted to become a warden. She had volunteered in the women’s prisons in Texas and enjoyed it. She loved the Lord and loved prison ministry, but full-time? No regular income? This was asking a bit much.

After much prayer and consultation with fellow believers, Carole said “yes” to God. In 1995 Cross Prison Ministry was born. The ensuing years were a wild ride with Jesus always coming out victorious. The gospel was preached, volunteers were trained, and thousands of men and women gave their lives to Christ.

I first saw Carole when my husband and I were practicing lawyers in Dallas, Texas. Carole was the speaker at a Christian Legal Society meeting. She quoted Jesus,

“Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison, and you came to visit me….Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:34-36, 40 NIV, emphasis added).

She was so on fire for the Lord. She told us, “Now you have been invited by Jesus, so you can pray, or you can give, or you can go!” I raised my hand and answered, “I’ll go!” Carole was thrilled and set up a time for me to visit.

One of my daughters agreed to go with me, so we drove to Gatesville together. We had seen the movie, Walk the Line. We were expecting hardened criminals throwing water bottles at us. We were apprehensive. The entrance to Woodmen’s Women’s prison in Gatesville is foreboding. No trees near, the white cinder block monstrosity sits in the middle of nowhere. Gates clang as you enter barbed wire-topped fences menacing enough to give even the purest soul pause. Women in white are marched in and out of nondescript rooms and corridors. We were only allowed to bring in one Bible each, no paper or notes, and we left our identification at the gate.

As we entered the room where the worship service was to be held, a warm light greeted us. Perhaps it was the kind and loving faces of the 50 or 60 women who filled the room, but I will always believe it was the strong loving presence of God that greeted us. It was as if God had pulled back the curtain of reality and said, “Carolyn, you have been looking for me all of your life; guess where I am—in prison!” He was there in the Gatesville prison with scores of women loving each other, praying for each other, asking for and receiving miracle healings. They were reaching heavenward as their lives were transformed.

A number of them sang that night and one song we heard was, “I sing because I’m happy and I sing because I’m free, for His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me!” Women in prison with guards hovering around them were singing about being free!

I sang with them and also sang a song in Spanish. Carole introduced me as a visitor.  I shared some of the wisdom from Scripture that I thought might encourage them, and then asked if there were any questions. One lady raised her hand, “Would you sing another song?” So much for my great wisdom. But I was sure I had seen and experienced the presence of the Lord more strongly there in the prison than any other time I could remember. I went to Gatesville to help with the worship services as often as I could.

If you want to respond to Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 25, you can pray for Carole, donate to her ministry, or go visit her in Gatesville. Cross Prison Ministry is a 501 (c) (3) tax exempt organization and can be reached at P.O. Box 412, Gatesville, TX 76528. Her door is always open and the love of Jesus lights up her ministry.