Chapter 3 When the Door Opens Wide Go In It

Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

As time went on there were more and more experiences in the jail ministry. It seemed like God had His hand on that place and He was opening one door after another. I started a weekly schedule for services at the jail. We had many new people who wanted to get involved who had never been involved before. I went every Wednesday night to the ladies service no matter who was there. That's when this Baptist girl got a learning in different denomanations. I loved it. From Non-denomanation, Holiness, Carasmatic, Southern Baptist, Church of Christ and Methodist. All were welcome to have a night as long at Jesus was preached and taught. That was such a growing time for me spiritually. I attended churches that I would have never been exposed to had I not been in the jail ministry.

We had baptism services outside at the jail. A few churches came together and organized the event. I'm not sure how many were baptised, men and women. Someone brought a large metal watering bucket the kind that cows and horses drink out of and it was filled with water. Not hot water either. The water was very cold. Inmate after inmate were dunked in those baptismial waters. It really was a sight. One man I remember who was baptised is now out of jail and I see him often. God did an awesome work in his life. To my knowledge he has not been back in jail since he finished his jail sentence. He thanks me every time he sees me. I really want to thank him. He made it all worth it. I thrills my heart to see him living for the Lord.

One weekend we had a very special retreat for the ladies. A large meal was brough in by volunteers. A banquet table was set and they ate by candle light. Then they were escort to the gem by men dressed in suits. One was my teen age son John. Many of the ladies told me that they had never been treated so kindly in all their lives. Guest speaker were brought in and at the end a wooden cross was brought in and each lady was given a piece of special paper to write on it something they wanted to nail to the cross. I can still hear the sound of the hammer nailing the paper to cross. When all the paper was nailed to the cross. My pastor at the time Mike Bernard light a match to it and the paper went up in one flame and disappeared. That's what Jesus does. He takes those sins and they are gone forever.

At Christmas we had a Christmas party for the children of the inmates and their families at Central Baptist Church. The Total Life Encounters puppet ministry preformed for the children. It was so much fun to see them have a good Christmas.

So much more happened in those four yours of jail ministry. We almost had a person every day of the week come in the jail and mentor with the inmates. I started a Wednesday Bible Study at Lunch time, which continued for serveral years. I found that many of the ladies wanted to study and be challenged. We did all kind of Bible Studies, Precept, Beth Moore, Experiencing God, and the mailbox Bible Club.

The mailbox Bible Club is a booklet that the person reads and does the test at the end. When they have completed it they got a certificate. Those went over very well. I did it with the male and female inmates. There were about 10 different booklets and many of them did them all. I found that they were hungry to learn and loved getting the certificate. One of our ladies was transferred to Blount County Justice Center, Maryville, Tn. She wanted to continue her mailbox Bible club so I mailed them to her and she mail the answers back. Other ladies at Blount wrote me and I began sending them to about twenty or more inmates.

New doors opened for me to go to other jails. I went to Monroe County and Polk County and occasionally Meigs. I started meeting more and more people in jail ministry. It was so exciting to know other people with the same calling as I had.

Some of the people involved wanted to have a revival at the jail. I went to the Sheriff and he agreed to it. It was quite and experience. The men on one side and the women on the other. To be honest I was watching them more than I was listening to the serman. God was so good. He protected everyone and I think it was a good experience for the inmates as well as the Officers. Some of the Officers started to get involved in the jail ministry. Detective Gary Miller and Patrol Officer Phillip Cook were a big help.

Carlos Hammond introduced me to a man called "Pop". Pop is from Georgia. He was in his 60s. Pop had been in the prison system all of his life. I can't possible tell all of his story but it is amazing. He was kept in prison where the death row, the badest of the bad were kept. While in prison he helped plant a boom in a radio and killed a man. Some how he was never convicted of that but the rest of his charges were pretty servere. He was at the lowest of the lows and decided to kill himself. A women felt led of the Lord to go to the jail to talk to someone. She did not know who but she trusted that God would show her. She had never done anything like this before. After being rejected by her Church, pastor and everyone she tried to get to go with her, she went by herself. It took a lot of convincing and finally she was allowed to go in. She went all over that jail talking to men but she did not find the one she came to talk to. She went back to the warden and ask him if she could go down in the hole. That's where the maximum security prisoners were held. He agreed to let her go down there with much hesitation. She came to Pop's cell. She told him that God had sent her to tell him that God loved him. This only made him mad. It seemed like he did not listen to her. She told him she would come back and bring him a Bible. He told her okay he would take it. That night in his cell he began to break. He could not forget the words that women said "God loves you." His plan was to hang himself. He prayed that night and told God If He really loved him he would give his life to him. That moment Pop was changed. A lot more happened after that. He still spent many more years in jail but he was eventually paroled. While waiting for God to release him he started going to Bible Study and serving the Lord in jail. He became very popular with the inmates for a whole new reason, they began to trust him and many came to know Jesus because of Pop's changed life. There was a door that opened wide when that lady went down through it. She could have stayed at home and gave up but she did not stop until she was satisfied she had done what God sent her to do. I'm very thankful for that. Years later Pop came into my life. I had him in the jail many times. Many McMinn County Inmates were saved after hearing his testimony.

One winter day when Pop shared his testimony stands out in my mind. I got ready to go I wore a red turtle neck shirt under a white sweatshirt. I realized the turtle neck had a big hole under the arm but I wore it anyway knowing it would be under my sweat shirt. It was cold in the gem that day. Among some of the lady inmate was a lady I'll call Sissy. Sissy probably did not weight 80 lbs soaking wet. She had abused her body with drugs so badly she was sick all the time. Her heart was weak and she could barely walk sometimes. That day I looked over at Sissy and she was in the back of room shivering and big tears were rolling down her face. Her bare arms were blue from the cold. I went back and asked her if she wanted to go back to her cell. She said no I want to hear what he has to say. I went back to my set and God would not let me get Sissy off my mind. He said to me "You could give Sissy your sweatshirt". I said Lord don't you remember I've got that big whole in my turtle neck. No answer. I took off my sweat shirt and gave it to Sissy. She gladly took it. I was humbled to the 10th degree, which was about how cold it felt like in that room. Sissy did not make any decision that day. Which I was sure she would since God had me strip down to my holie turtle neck.

Only one week later Sissy died in the arms of her fellow inmates at the McMinn County Justice Center. It was on a cold Saturday. Her heart just gave out. I just heard that people don't care as much what you do or say as how you make them feel. I hope Sissy felt warmth coming from me. Later that day I was told by one of the ladies that came to the jail to mentor "Footie Lambert" that Sissy had pray to receive Christ that week. Oh Lord Sissy went through the door. She was finally free. She has a new heart. As for me I had a new respect for what God was doing in me. A deeper love for those He came to die for. He said he did not come to the righteous and there is a good reason,they are none, He came to the sick, the dying, and the sinner.

One other thing about Pop. Pop is married to Toby. When Women at the Well first became an idea or vision Pop believed in it. He and Toby go to lots of prisons and jails sharing Pop's story and the gospel with the inmates. They have a fire for jail ministry. Pop and Toby came to me one day and handed me an envelope with $100.00 in it. He said this is the seed money for that house you feel like God wants you to build. That was the first time anyone had believed in what I was saying God wanted me to do. I had never received money before. That seed money has gone a long way. I'll never meet that women that marched down there to that maximum prison to witness to Pop. Not in this world anyway. But someday she and I will have a lot to talk about. She is as much a part of Women at the Well as I am. If she had not been willing to listen to God, I might not have met Pop. I might not have been so encouraged to go forward if Pop had not given me that seed money. When the door opens wide go in it. Don't hesitate you never know what God is doing. I'm sure she had no idea.