Warsaw Mission Trip - Prison Visits

On Friday our group split into two, the families that came along went to a Polish pre-school for ‘Denmark day’ and my group went to two prisons, a women’s prison and a men’s prison. We started the day early again to get to the women’s prison outside of town. Going into the women’s prison, the barbed wire and high fences were very intimidating, but as soon as we entered the meeting room and the prisoners came in, we felt very welcomed and could see just how happy the prisoners were that we were even there. 

Driving into the women’s prison, the road was very rough and bumpy. In both prisons we visited, we began by comparing that ‘rough road to prison’ to the undoubtedly rough road everyone had to have been on to end up there.  We then told the story of John Newton, the slave trader who also was on a very rough road in his life as a slave trader, who became a believer at the very worst point in his life, after which he dedicate his life to sharing that amazing grace. As we sang along to ‘Amazing Grace’ in English, the prisoners started to sing along in Polish, and a few bean to get tears in their eyes. 

 The prisoners singing along was amazing, and after that things just kept getting more amazing. The Prison commander knocked on the door and asked if he could join our group for a few minutes. The leader of the WVM, Mike (Person speaking in the center of the picture above) has been coming to the see prisons every Friday for over a decade, he was coming when the prison commander (seated on the right above) was just a regular guard, and has seen him climb from normal guard all the way to prison commander. What made this particular event amazing, the Commander has never before joined any of the meetings, this was the first time in over a decade that has happened. He said he was walking down the hall and was amazed at hearing the music coming from the room and wanted to see first-hand what was going on and how much of an impact these weekly meeting have on the prisoners. We asked all the prisoners why they came to the meetings, and the answer was almost always that they just wanted to get out of their cells, but they kept coming back because of just how much of an impact Mike has on their lives, since he normally does the meeting on his own or with his family. One woman had brought her bible with, and literally, on almost every single page, she had post-it notes sticking out the side and paragraphs of notes written inside. Every morning she opens her bible and picks a random verse, which she says has always been relevant to her life and has given her the strength to start her day.

This was written on the board when we came in. It says, "Welcome. Jesus I trust you"

 Seeing the impact of our visit at the women’s prison was amazing, but none of us could have guessed what would happen at the men’s prison.  The men’s prison was very intimidating going in. the walls were bare, there were dozens of huge metal doors, and the prisoners themselves all looked like the ‘stereotypical prisoner’  When we walked into our meeting room, the first person we saw was a huge guy, tattoos all over his face, but despite his hard exterior, he gave everyone a handshake,  welcomed them, poured cups of coffee and had written a greeting on the board (picture above) (he was the guy in the bottom right corner in the picture below, with the glasses and facial tattoos). As soon as we started the meeting, we could see here even more so than at the women’s prison just how important these visits are to them. They were very energetic, excited to participate, racing each other to be able to read verses from the bible and always listening to what we were saying. Then one prisoner (second from right in picture above) asked a very serious question. He asked simply, “how do you see us?” All the prisoners agreed, saying they've been at the bottom and rejects form society for most of their lives and feel that they will have nothing to look forward to when they are released. Then Mike’s daughter gave the most amazing answer any of us had ever heard, and the most touching thing we had heard all week. She said they are “the most important people ever, Heaven’s VIPs”, reading from Mathew 25:31-46.

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² Before him will be gathered all the nations and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

After hearing this, multiple of the prisoners, who are not supposed to show any weakness and to always appear strong in the prison culture, began to cry, not just watering eyes, but actual tears of happiness and amazement. That single moment was the greatest point of the entire week, the last day, and truly amazing for both parties, as none of the prisoners had ever heard that verse before and our feelings of joy at being there and seeing the very moment that so many people realize they are saved and have so much importance placed on them in the scripture is just something that no words can ever describe.

Friday was the last day of our work in Poland, and by far the most amazing for everyone involved. Each night after we did mission work, we went into old town Warsaw for dinner at different restaurants and on Wednesday I went with a group on a day trip to Auschwitz and Krakow. Posts about all of that will be coming over the next few days.