Last week, more than 20 students from Mississippi State University were sent to the Oktibbeha County Jail. They had not been arrested-they wanted to make the trip.
These students were participating in a Christian jail ministry sponsored by the Wesley Foundation, a United Methodist college ministry.
The idea of the jail ministry sprang from mission projects students worked on in smaller groups in August, campus minister Hugh Griffith said.
“One of the small groups went to the jail and had a great experience, so they went back a couple of times. This week the jail was going to have a scheduled revival, so the prisoners themselves actually requested that the Wesley students come and lead the music for it,” Griffith said.
Students spent close to three hours at the jail every night last week, said mission intern Heather Meyer.
“The number of students really grew throughout the week. On Monday we had probably 10 students go, but by Friday night we had over 20,” Meyer said.
In addition to the benefits that the prisoners received, Griffith said the event also helped students by strengthening their faith.
“The ministry really provided two benefits. On one end there’s a benefit directly to prisoners, because they are getting a chance to learn about the love of God. But this also made a profound impact on the students who went,” Griffith said. “Most of them had never been inside a jail before. Stepping out of your comfort zone like that in a bold, new way really makes a difference in a person’s faith.”
Griffith added that he was pleased with the results of the ministry.
“As campus minister I am thrilled about both benefits. These students put their faith into action and they will never forget it,” Griffith said.
Students had to be open to experiencing something different and perhaps uncomfortable, but the results were amazing, Meyer said.
“I was kind of worried about it at first because it really requires a lot out of students. It takes a lot to be able to go into a jail and talk to the prisoners, but by the end of the week everyone loved it and everyone was changed by it,” Meyer said. “There was so much joy there that it didn’t feel like we were in a jail anymore- it felt like we were just hanging out.”
Dan Takacs, a senior history major, went to the jail every night of the ministry.
“It was such a different experience. I knew I had to do it because it was an amazing opportunity,” Takacs said. “My goal was just to have fun and share the love of God with them. Now I’ve gained a deeper understanding of the jail and the prisoners there.”
Since the women inmates are separated from the men, females from the Wesley spent small group time with them, Griffith said.
“The female prisoners were very receptive to us coming there. Normally they are locked up, and we are really distanced from them. This time we all went into one room, students and prisoners, and were sitting side-by-side,” Meyer said. “The really neat thing was that so many of the prisoners are there only for a short time, so going every night in one week allowed us to develop closer relationships.”
A pregnant inmate even requested that the Wesley students she met come visit her in the hospital when she has her baby, Meyer said.
“She really doesn’t have any family or anyone to support her while she’s in the hospital, so she asked us to be there,” Meyer said. “That shows how close our relationships with the prisoners have become.”
The guys from the Wesley went into the general population of the jail facility and had fellowship and sang with nearly 100 male prisoners.
“The prisoners loved singing songs. They can’t have radios while they are in jail, so you could tell they really enjoyed that part of it,” Takacs said.
Most students were amazed by the simplicity of the prisoners and the peace that they had made with being in jail, Meyer said.
“Throughout the week you could really see that they had so much joy in their lives. If I were in jail, I would go crazy without alone time, personal space and the ability to just do things that I want to do and go where I want,” Meyer said. “But they all knew that God had put them there for a reason, and were completely at peace with it.”
“I really felt like I wasn’t at a jail. I was working for God, so I felt very comfortable. The prisoners there are normal people like us-they have just screwed up a little more in life than we have, and they knew that,” Takacs said. “Everyone was very open, and it was great. They weren’t trying to hide anything, they knew they were in orange and we weren’t for a reason. They never tried to hide the fact that they had made mistakes in life.”
“We got a chance to hear the experiences of the prisoners. They don’t even have windows in their cells, so one woman said that she missed just being able to see the sky. Another told us that she missed walking across the dew-covered grass in the mornings,” Meyer said. “We wanted to take pizza to the prisoners one night, because they had talked about not having pizza in a long time, but the jail couldn’t let us. It’s just hard for me to imagine wanting something like pizza and not being able to just call and have it delivered.”
It seemed as if the students represented hope for the prisoners, Takacs said.
“The most memorable part of the experience for me was actually when we would first open the doors and walk into where the prisoners were,” Takacs said. “You could see the smiles on their faces as soon as we walked in. It was like they knew someone cared. Here we were going to a place that no one wants to go to, just to see them.”
Meyer said that while they were there they even met some students who were in jail.
“Some of the ones that we met back in August, and are out of prison now are already coming to the Wesley, and others that will be getting out soon have promised that they will come too,” Meyer said.
By the end of the week the results of the ministry could be seen in the number of prisoners who had accepted Christ and the number of requests for Bibles, Meyer said.
“Three of the prisoners will be baptized this Thursday,” Meyer said, “and we had so many requests for Bibles that we didn’t have enough.”
The Wesley Foundation is now accepting Bible donations for the jail ministry.
“Anyone who has Bibles that they would like to donate for the prisoners can drop them off at the Wesley,” Meyer said. “We ask though that they are not hard-back, because they cannot have hard-back books in jail.”
Meyer also encourages anyone who is interested in participating at the next jail ministry to stop by the Wesley Foundation or call 323-1778.