Christmas Like No Other

My dad was an ordinary man with an extraordinary vision from God. He gave his very heart and soul to his prison ministry of 38 years in Maharashtra, India. He was faithfully obedient to his calling until the very end and worked hard to bring the lost sheep into His loving fold. I consider it an absolute privilege and honour to be born into this ministry. As a teenager I started accompanying my parents to the prisons all over Maharashtra. I distinctly remember one occasion when my parents took my sister and me to Yerwada Women Central Jail on Christmas. Well, it certainly was Christmas like no other! You instantly realize what freedom is all about as it takes on a whole new perspective. The bleak prison walls looked even bleaker as they seemed to close in on me making me feel like a caged bird gasping for air.

I saw convicted women there wearing the prison appointed light green sarees with their heads bowed. Some women were carrying their babies who were born in prison and had never seen the outside world. Oh, how my heart went out to them. I was told that most of these women were abandoned by society and their own kith and kin wanted nothing to do with them. These women are constantly shrouded in guilt, anger, bitterness, hatred and tormented by the enemy. Some commit suicide or even go insane while serving their time. News soon spread around the prison that there would be a program of some sort. I could sense apprehension with a hint of excitement in the air. Curious faces started to pop out of their cells.

India is home to a lot of idol worship and all these women were from various religious backgrounds and had no clue what Christmas was. A few minutes later we were escorted to a meeting hall by two prison guards. A few seconds later what caught my eyes I will never forget: around 500-600 women prisoners sitting on the ground with their heads lowered. It is hard to erase their forlorn, withered and pitiable faces from my mind.

My dad opened his message with, “Jesus loves you! No matter what you have done he loves you unconditionally.” This statement was followed by pin drop silence. The word “love” seemed so out of place in a prison. He had their attention now. Then he spoke of the unfailing everlasting love of God who loved us so much that he sent his only son to die for our sins. He spoke about the length and breadth and height and depth of the love of God. This mighty love seemed to overflow through my dad and drench the hearts of these prisoners drawing them close to Jesus. They were so intrigued by hearing of a God who was born in a manger and not some beautiful temple. And that he came for them and gave his life for them, sinners. What an awe-inspiring compassionate God! There was such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that there was not one dry eye that day. Inmates were heard repenting, weeping and coming forward to accept the Lord Jesus Christ.

At the end of the meeting, we distributed gifts to them which bought a smile to their worn-out faces. They begged us to come and visit them again for they were enraptured by the Christmas message and music. It was a beautiful scene. The expressionless gray looks on their faces was replaced by the anointed joy of the Holy Spirit. I think the radiance and peace reflecting on those faces that day is what the Bible calls, “peace that passeth understanding”.

Jesus even died for the most notorious and deadly criminal. The repenting thief on the cross represents all the prisoners and the promise of Jesus Christ to him, “Today thou shalt be with me in paradise” goes for all repenting prisoners.

A few days later we received letters from these women telling us about the wonderful transformation in their life by a Messiah who was born in a manger on Christmas day.

POEM – SONG BEHIND BARS

I am in bonds coz sin overcame me
Made me it’s slave I now see
My heart beats against these prison walls
I wonder who would hear my bitter calls
Then one day, a stranger approaches me
With kind eyes and holding a Bible I see
He tells me of a love unknown to me
How Jesus died for a sinner like me
Now I know why I am in these chains
I realize these are now my greatest gains
To know of a Savior who loves me
Endured a criminal’s death for me
My heart breaks out in a song
Now it’s only You Lord that I long!