IN SERVICIUL LUI CHRISTOS IN INCHISORILE DE FEMEI DIN CALIFORNIA...

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 2 Cor. 4:7-10

Dear Praying Friends,

What would we do without the "hope" that is within us? If I didn't know that the Lord sends me to do His work, I could be crushed and despairing! BUT GOD!

Last week was VERY difficult in prison. It was the "dinner roll" verses GOD! It was mass chaos in SHU. (Secured Housing Unit) Let me explain.
I was about 10 minutes into teaching, which means I had just completed the review of all we have studied and things seemed to be going well. The dinners had just finished being served. I was about the start the part of the lesson about..."So what happens when we have partial obedience?" And then it started...the argument between two inmates on the second tier directly in front of me, with a female officer (CO) I hadn't seen before.

"Hey, I didn't get my dinner roll, called out one inmate, to which the other joined in, "Me, either!"
"They're all gone, replied the CO curtly.
"Call up the kitchen and have them send 'em over," they screamed!
"I told you, they are all gone," yelled the CO, "what do you want me to do, pull them out of my blankety blankety?"
"No, we expect you to call the kitchen and give us our state issued food," shouted the one, and the other inmate said, "We're hungry, and we want everything we are issued!"

I thought to myself, oh boy, here we go! "Help Lord"

There was more yelling of the same thing, only a little fouler than before and in the middle of it all, the two inmates realize I was hearing this and they said to me, "We're sorry, Church Lady, we really are, but we are hungry and we want our dinner rolls!"

At this point their behavior was so bad, I would have been surprised if they ever received their dinner rolls! However, I replied to these two and said, "I serve a mighty God who loves you. He is concerned about those dinner rolls for you. Let's ask Him to get them for you." The room went silent! We prayed and asked the God who made water come from a rock in the desert for the thirsty unfaithful Israelites which showed His faithfulness, even though we are not, to send those dinner rolls!"

I taught for a few more minutes and the female CO came back into the room empty handed and two inmates started in again! This time the other 56 inmates were shouting for everyone to please shut up so we can continue studying which caused even more problems...everybody was yelling! Inmates were crying and shouting apologies to me! More noise! So I shut off the mike and started going door to door and praying with those who wanted to pray.

By this time it was just too late to continue teaching, so I went to put my things away and guess what came in.....not two dinner rolls, but a bag of 100 dinner rolls! I chucked as I watched the problem CO struggle to carry the bag in, go up the stairs, and deliver the dinner rolls to the inmates!

After they had as many as they wanted, I turned on the mike and asked, "Where did those dinner rolls come from?"

"The kitchen," they shouted.

"No! Why would the kitchen send over 100 dinner rolls when you only needed two? The God who loves you, my God supplied those dinner rolls to show you He cares about you, He hears our prayers and He answers. He has a plan for you and wants you to experience life abundantly! Let's pray now and thank Him for revealing Himself to us all." LESSON OVER!

As I left many of the women called out to me, "Please forgive us, please don't let this keep you from coming back! We really want to hear more about God!

To which I turned and shouted back, "See you next Thursday!"
The night class went well, but a lot of students couldn't come because of lock downs!

After class, one inmate decided to chew me out, for about 10 minutes, for frowning at her in class and shaking my head "no" at her for putting her arm around her girlfriend and rubbing her back! She has been a long time student of mine and knows it's not ok to do that. She called me judgemental and said she was only comforting the crying friend. She said she was really mad at me. I told her I could tell because her voice was shaking and her fists were clenched. I was careful with my word to not aggravate the situation, but stood firm on the rule of my class. After she was finished and I felt we weren't getting anywhere, I asked her, "Just what is it you want me to say? What exactly is the problem?"

"I just needed to get it off my chest," and she stormed off with her girlfriend who was waiting at the door!

I sat there feeling like I had just been run over by a mac truck! The verbal attack and oppression was heavy! I sat there and prayed, as I had been praying during the entire confrontation, "Lord, what is going on? Help me."

As I drove home, I prayed yet I still felt a heaviness and sadness on me. In fact, it plagued me until Friday night. I was weepy, and sad, and no motivated to do anything. Finally, when Jeff got home from work, I cried and sobbed and said, "Honey,please pray for me....and it left."

Please remember me today, I will head out at 11am and I get home at 10pm. It's an hour and 10 min each way. It's going to be 103 degrees today! UGH!

And I will remember....
Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. Neh. 8:10b

:Your sister in Christ,
MaryAlice
A bondservant of Jesus Christ
Set apart for the gospel of God (if it kills me!) ;-)

CU MARY ALICE WHALLEY ...IN INCHISOARE...

Acum citiva ani am fost intr-un retreat si am avut ca vorbitoare, o femeiusca marunta, cu un par lung, mama a vreo sapte copiii. O fetita cu down syndrom, iar fata cea mai mare misionara in Cambodgia, daca nu ma insel. Te-a convins din primele cuvinte ca nu vorbeste din auzite, ci din ceea ce a trait. Si Mary Alice Whalley, ca asta ii este numele ne-a povestit o seara intreaga cine a fost ea inainte de a-L cunoaste pe Christos. Si din cite am fost acolo adunate, cu experiente multe si venite din diferite paturi ale societatii…nu cred ca a fost vreo alta femeie sa fi venit de undeva mai jos decit ea. O Marie Magdalena a zilelor noastre.

Dar cind Christos a chemat-o la El si cind si-a schimbat drumul vietii…ce femeie minunata a devenit; si ce lucruri nemaipomenite poate sa faca…

Periodic de citiva ani primesc scrisori de la ea (e-mail) in care povesteste cu ce se ocupa. Si Mary Alice se ocupa de femeile din inchisoare. Linga Merced unde lucrez eu, este cea mai mare inchisoare de femei din California. Acuma o sa ziceti ca femeile nu sint atit de criminale cit sint barbatii…dar nu este adevarat. Sint femei acolo care se pot intrece in cruzime si rautate cu orice criminal. Exista ganguri de fete… exista multa ura si rautate si cruzime in oricine care nu-L are pe Christos.

Ca sa intelegeti un pic din ce am sa traduc trebuie sa va spun ca in inchisori, din cite am citit in articolele ei, exista un loc unde sint tinute cele mai rele detinute…si prescurtat i se spune SHU. Acuma, ea a mentionat mai de mult termenii care definesc acest loc, dar eu va spun doar ca SHU este o inchisoare in…inchisoare. Si exista un motiv precis pentru care femeile acelea ajung acolo. Ele sint un pericol pentru alte femei si pentru personalul inchisorii.

Mary Allen merge cu aparate de amplificare si le vorbeste de afara in fata celulelor lor, iar ele se uita doar pe gemulete si ii flutura cite o bucata de hirtie igienica in semn ca asculta.

In afara de ea, mai sint si alti capelani. Capelanul musulman, catolic - si prizonierele au chiar si servicii ale vrajitoarelor. Data trecuta cind am primit scrisoare de la ea , tocmai ne spunea ca vrajitoarele s-au pus afara la fereastra unde era ea in cladire si s-au apucat de dansat acolo si de facut galagie ca sa intrerupa studiile de Biblie ce se tineau inauntru. Daca noi aici in libertate avem de-a face cu duhurile necurate intr-un fel sau altul…imaginati-va ce ocupate sint duhurile alea rele si ce infuriate sint ca se vorbeste din Cuvintul Lui Dumnezeu pe teritoriul lor.

Am ajuns sa stiu cite putin despre personajele de care Mary Alice povesteste. Iata ce spune de data asta…

“Clasa de dupa amiaza…

Cum paseam vesela sa merg la Capela, pregatita sa invat “Cum sa pasim in Cuvintul care il vorbim”, iata ca o vad pe Linda. Saptamina trecuta arata grozav si se simtea mai bine. Cind am vazut-o m-am intors imediat catre ea…
-Oh…draga Linda i-am spus…nu arati de loc bine…Ce s-a intimplat?”
-Fiica mea a fost omorita, mi-a raspuns. Puscata in plina fata…chiar de sotul ei. Nu se stie nici unde este el si nici unde sint cei doi copii ( 10 si 13 ani)
Durerea ei m-a coplesit…am imbratisat-o, si printre lacrimi, tot ce am putut sa spun a fost…
-Oh Linda, Linda…sa ne rugam. Dumnezeu iti stie durerea, hai sa-I cerem confort si putere.
Dar vai…cit poate o persoana sa duca? Fata asta este al treilea copil al ei care este omorit, si al 5-a ruda pe care o pierde de cind este in inchisoare. Ea se va elibera la sfirsitul lui Iulie. Aceasta femeie are cancer terminal si spera sa traiasca pina va iesi din inchisoare sa guste inca odata libertatea…

Linda mi-a spus ca Dumnezeu a ajutat-o prin acest ordeal si ca ea l-a iertat pe ginerele ei – gratie studiului ce l-am facut despre iertare. Ofiterul de politie care a trebuit s-o instiinteze despre moartea fiicei ei, este acelasi ofiter care a instiintat-o si despre celelalte . El mi-a spus ca n-a vrut sa-i spuna…dar ca la urma Linda a ajuns sa-I incurajeze pe el. Cit de pretios poate fi acest lucru? El a mai intrebat-o daca vrea sa vada un psihiatrist sau un counselor…si ea i-a spus ca nu-i nevoie…”

………………

Am citit astazi pe nerasuflate scrisoarea lui Mary Alice. In orice stare ai fi , oricit de neagra si intunecata Valea prin care treci…cind citesti lucruri de felul celor de mai sus…iti revendici pozitia. Ce are Linda pe pamintul asta sa mai spere?…Nimic! Doar ca speranta ei nu mai este aici jos. Si nici inchisoarea si nici problemele si durerile vietii asteia nu-i pot fura bucuria de a sti ca apartine Lui Dumnezeu. Ca "ce cistig ar avea un om de intreaga lume daca isi pierde sufletul?…Si ce ar da un om in schimb pentru sufletul Lui?" Iar Linda, acolo dupa gratii, chiar suferind de cancer si chiar pierzindu-si pe rind pe cei dragi, nu pierde nadejdea ei in Christos…Ma simt rusinata de putina mea credinta si nadejde…Doamne inmulteste-le…si da-mi putere sa spun tuturora cit esti de bun si ce minuni faci Tu…

http://www.oakhurstevfree.org/whoweare/maryalicewhalley.scms