Giving Hope
Have you ever thought about the weight of a prison door? The cold steel slamming shut right behind you, leaving you at the mercy of the one who holds the keys. Imagine the hopelessness, even for the ones who just came to visit their loved ones. For us, this is where we found ourselves as teenagers. The tragedy of our mother’s murder led to the imprisonment of our father and visits to Louisiana State Penitentiary.
For the first 22 years of our father’s incarceration, the weight of those doors only brought painful memories and reminded us of our separation from him. There was a lot of brokenness and despair. Painful choices and misunderstood grace were the continual cycle we stayed in for years. Then Jesus rescued us out of our wilderness, and all of a sudden there was the hope we were searching for all along. His goodness—His abundant love and abounding grace—is for all.
We didn’t want to be a statistic. 75% of children with one incarcerated parent are more likely to end up in prison, and two-thirds of parents in prison have never received a visit from their family. We did not want this for our family. We made a choice that neither guilt nor innocence would play a factor in loving our dad. We watched families fade after visiting for five years, ten years, or fifteen years. No one came.
But over the last ten years, we found ourselves positioned by God to go behind the walls and tell incarcerated women that there is hope, and his name is Jesus. This hope changed our lives! There is power in a changed life, and changed lives change legacies.
We had a friend who knew our story and knew the impact it could have on these incarcerated women. What we learned is that over 58% of women in prison are mothers. We could speak to them and understand the situation their children were in. Yet how would we do this? Pursuing a calling that you feel unequipped for is a constant recurrence in scripture. But isn’t that the very reason He calls the unqualified? We can remove any part of ourselves from the message of hope.
Walking into the women’s prison for the first time, we heard words such as defeated, defective, and damaged. Hearing those words roll off the tongue of God’s beautiful daughters had us feeling like we had been gut-punched. The loneliness and the quiver in the voices—along with a downcast head and slumped shoulders—has but one word to describe the pain and abandonment they feel. That word is hopeless.
They had no expectations of ever having something good or positive come within a foot of their desperate grasp. These ladies walk with shame and guilt piled so high that the weight could break them at any moment. But Jesus is invited into this dark, cold, emotionless place, and everything changes. The Gospel is laid out, His story is shared, and then—unexpectedly—you see tears being wiped from sorrow-filled eyes that have been so lifeless for too long.
Searching for hope and freedom (in a place that is designed to strip you of those very things) is the epitome of what Jesus means when he says you must lay down your life in order to live it. Being stripped away of everything is how we fully surrender. The tangible things and freedom of living out in the world are taken away, and you must submit to authority to survive. Isn’t that the very core of the Gospel? Submit to the one authority who is full of grace, love, and mercy, and hope is restored.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ” –Romans 3:23-24. Justified freely, this is possible through faith and God’s grace alone.
It is not by good works. Those few words are where joy and hope are found. That is my Jesus—the one that we take behind the walls and share.
We work in a room full of faith-shattered women begging to touch the hem of his garment to find peace and healing. Working with these incarcerated women does something unexplainable to our hearts. As we begin to share from the position of children affected by a parent living behind bars, their countenance changes.
They are eager to know more of our story, because the stories they are so often told are ones of separation and unforgiveness. Jesus offers a different story: one of reconciliation and redemption. Hope for all of us is rooted in knowing the truth, God’s truth, and that truth is that He has made us a new creation. No more shame or sorrow will keep us in bondage. The chains are gone, and He has set us free. To be called a daughter of the King of Kings and not by a DOC (Department of Corrections) number restores their hope.
Paul writes in Romans 5:1-11:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
No one deserves to be forgotten! Aren’t you glad someone thought enough of you to not withhold the one thing that truly sets you free? Jesus! No matter the walls or the slamming cell doors, we all have the same key to freedom through Jesus Christ. He brings us in to participate, to partner with him, and to build relationships not just with words—but with action!
We now have a ministry that partners with the community in packing bags. These bags are filled with hygiene products such as shampoo, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, lotion, socks, beanies, and handwritten notes. These little items bring hope and the good news of the Gospel of Jesus to these women.
Life often presents us with hopeless situations, but we fix our eyes on Jesus—the author and perfector of our faith—who is always working all things out for our good and his glory. May God’s love and grace prevail, offering hope and freedom in the most unexpected places—even behind prison walls.
Mindy Lancaster speaks regularly at women’s events and prisons, sharing the truth and love of Christ. Mindy and her husband Michael have three children and four grandchildren. Mindy serves as a women’s ministry leader at WFR church where she attends.
Jerri Anne Blankenship has served in leadership with Celebrate Recovery, Re-Engage, Heartfelt, and retreat ministries. Her passion to share Jesus goes beyond prison walls and can be heard on local podcasts. Jerri Anne and her family reside in West Monroe, LA.