A few years ago I was witness to what could easily be compared to Jesus speaking to his disciples...
wisdom was being imparted, disputes being settled, and wrong thinking being confronted, all in the name of ministry leadership.
wisdom was being imparted, disputes being settled, and wrong thinking being confronted, all in the name of ministry leadership.
Where was I?
In the education room, a makeshift chapel, along with 50 women who are serving in ministry under the Chaplain of a mega church behind prison bars.
In the education room, a makeshift chapel, along with 50 women who are serving in ministry under the Chaplain of a mega church behind prison bars.
This motley group of 50 are serving on the setup & sound team, intercessory prayer team, and/or the choir. Each week they meet for practice and as time permits, avail themselves to the spiritual influence of Chaplain (name withheld for privacy and security reasons).
Why was I there?
I have been volunteering at this Unit, on and off, for over 20 years, but a few years ago the Lord invited me to return for a deeper work. When I met Chaplain it was much like what I imagine it was for Elizabeth when she greeted Mary, and the baby leapt. Chaplain kindly referred to me as Esther, after our first meeting immediately took us from the picket to Aggravated Segregation where we ministered in tandem to three women who had just attempted suicide and several locked down after a fight. Once in Chaplain's office, we both shared our hearts, our history, and our missions. While I respect and honor the post, we quickly became sisters. Or, as my friend Debi says, our like mindedness and similar faith practices actually made us cousins.
On this particular Wednesday night, I was there to deliver and introduce 50 copies of the book The Tale of Three Kings, a study in "brokenness" and a mandatory read for all students of School of Ministry (New Life Church, Houston).
What happened?
While I did get to deliver a heartfelt introduction to the book and a plug for the school of brokenness, things didn't go quite as planned. In fact, it was a day filled with opportunity.
The first was the opportunity to kill the flesh. After all we had driven three hours only to learn the Chaplain was not on property and our names were not on the Clearance list. This might be a good time to mention I had personally worked on that list weeks earlier, we were on it, but apparently it hadn't made its way to the front gate... there's it is, opportunity.
The officers were perplexed but genuinely trying to find a resolve. They suggested we travel over to the "sister" unit, and see if we were on their list. If so, they could call over and clear us. I thanked them and while Leslie, a C2C team member, and I walked to the parking lot I smiled and told her the exercise was merely an opportunity to honor the creative thinking and efforts of the officers, as the lists are not the same or shared between units. No worries, and no, we were not on their list either.
We made our way back to the original unit and after a few more phone call attempts, Chaplain was reached and it would be at least another hour. No worries I replied, we'll use the opportunity to take some hygiene products back over to the sister unit and grab some coffee... iced coffee that is, after all it was at least 103 degrees.
We delivered the hygiene items; made key connections; saw and prayed with one of our Captivating girls who had just learned her brother passed; and ran into a staff member whom we had met months earlier while visiting a local church, affording me the ability to not only ask how her pastor was after the explosion in Gatesville, but to tell her my letter to him had been returned. She was delighted to see us, shared the correct address and passed on our message.
As we left to return to the intended unit, Leslie and I offered each other a simple smile knowing that opportunity had knocked and we chose well.
In the end...
We were blessed to witness the open sharing and truth telling by the ladies in white, and the responses delivered from a Chaplain schooled in brokenness.
My heart was full as I knew that the days events had been divinely set up to offer an opportunity to lead by example.
Why was I there?
I have been volunteering at this Unit, on and off, for over 20 years, but a few years ago the Lord invited me to return for a deeper work. When I met Chaplain it was much like what I imagine it was for Elizabeth when she greeted Mary, and the baby leapt. Chaplain kindly referred to me as Esther, after our first meeting immediately took us from the picket to Aggravated Segregation where we ministered in tandem to three women who had just attempted suicide and several locked down after a fight. Once in Chaplain's office, we both shared our hearts, our history, and our missions. While I respect and honor the post, we quickly became sisters. Or, as my friend Debi says, our like mindedness and similar faith practices actually made us cousins.
On this particular Wednesday night, I was there to deliver and introduce 50 copies of the book The Tale of Three Kings, a study in "brokenness" and a mandatory read for all students of School of Ministry (New Life Church, Houston).
What happened?
While I did get to deliver a heartfelt introduction to the book and a plug for the school of brokenness, things didn't go quite as planned. In fact, it was a day filled with opportunity.
The first was the opportunity to kill the flesh. After all we had driven three hours only to learn the Chaplain was not on property and our names were not on the Clearance list. This might be a good time to mention I had personally worked on that list weeks earlier, we were on it, but apparently it hadn't made its way to the front gate... there's it is, opportunity.
The officers were perplexed but genuinely trying to find a resolve. They suggested we travel over to the "sister" unit, and see if we were on their list. If so, they could call over and clear us. I thanked them and while Leslie, a C2C team member, and I walked to the parking lot I smiled and told her the exercise was merely an opportunity to honor the creative thinking and efforts of the officers, as the lists are not the same or shared between units. No worries, and no, we were not on their list either.
We made our way back to the original unit and after a few more phone call attempts, Chaplain was reached and it would be at least another hour. No worries I replied, we'll use the opportunity to take some hygiene products back over to the sister unit and grab some coffee... iced coffee that is, after all it was at least 103 degrees.
We delivered the hygiene items; made key connections; saw and prayed with one of our Captivating girls who had just learned her brother passed; and ran into a staff member whom we had met months earlier while visiting a local church, affording me the ability to not only ask how her pastor was after the explosion in Gatesville, but to tell her my letter to him had been returned. She was delighted to see us, shared the correct address and passed on our message.
As we left to return to the intended unit, Leslie and I offered each other a simple smile knowing that opportunity had knocked and we chose well.
In the end...
We were blessed to witness the open sharing and truth telling by the ladies in white, and the responses delivered from a Chaplain schooled in brokenness.
My heart was full as I knew that the days events had been divinely set up to offer an opportunity to lead by example.
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