Meeting Jesus Christ in Ionia
With a little fear, worry, maybe even some trepidation, five of us climbed into the LaGrave van to head to Ionia. On this particular Monday evening in November, Jane Quinn skillfully maneuvered the van through downtown streets to the I-196 and 96. We were heading toward the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility to join members of other churches and the prisoners who were members of the newly organized Celebration Fellowship Church. We were going to participate in a Bible study and worship service. I did not expect to meet Jesus Christ in Ionia, but I did and was surprised.
I should not have been surprised that Jesus was there, because he was in his life on earth a convict. In his book The Convict Christ: What the Gospel Says about Criminal Justice,” Jens Soering writes, “When God chose to take human flesh, he did not become a priest or monk, a king or a general, a poet or a philosopher. Instead, he became a death row prisoner, a condemned criminal executed alongside two thieves. Nothing else would do: the living image of the invisible deity could take no other form than ‘dead man walking,’ the least of the low.” (p. 1) Yet, I was surprised.
We knew that we could take only our personal clothing and our drivers’ licenses into the prison, so we secreted some of our stuff in the van. The rest we put in a locker in the entry building. After going through a metal detector and being frisked, we exchanged our licenses for a personal id and a PDD (Personal Protection Device). We were assured that if we felt we were in any danger, we could push the red button, and a guard would rush to our aid. I wondered about the speed of the guards, some of whom did not look like former track stars
After hearing the “clank” of two doors being locked behind us, we were on the “inside.’’ We had reached the point of no return. We were in the prison. After entering the recreational/educational building, we were escorted to a classroom. Then we saw them--thirty-four brothers, as they call themselves, clad in their uniform blue pants and blue shirts with orange stripes on the shoulders. We had been told not to wear blue so we would not be confused with the prisoners. Most smiled and all warmly welcomed us to their tables. They all had copies of Rich Warren’s A Purpose-Driven Life and many had Bibles. We took turns reading passages from the assigned chapter and began to answer the questions suggested by Pastor Rich Rienstra and the prisoner planning committee. The chapter of relationship and reconciliation was pertinent to all Christians but especially poignant for prisoners. The hour of discussion went by quickly.
Following the discussion, we moved the tables to the sides of the room and organized the chairs into rows to begin the worship portion of the time. In many ways, the worship service was ordinary. We sang “Count You Blessings” and “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” with the full sound of strong male voices drowning out the few women in the congregation. We had special music by one of the brothers, an original song “What is This?” sung in a gospel music style in his deep bass voice. We had a call to confession led by another brother. We even had a children’s moment in which another of the brothers led a prayer for all the congregation’s children and grandchildren, even though they were not present. We had an opportunity for prayer requests followed by a congregational prayer.
However, we never got to the end of the planned service. This was the week of Thanksgiving. The brothers had simply spent so much time in prayer and thanksgiving, yes thanksgiving for the wonderful things God was doing in their lives that we ran out of time. These brothers who spend most of their time confined to a 8x10 room, a cell, had much for which to be thankful.
As the men left the classroom, most of them stopped to thank us for coming expressing the hope that we could come again. I have never been more welcomed into a church. We went to Bellamy Creek Prison to minister to the inmates, and we did that, but they also ministered to us.
Jesus said, “I was in prison and you came to visit me.” (Matthew 25:36) That was why I met Jesus Christ in Ionia. I was surprised, but I should not have been.