Boundless Love

Last night I went to prison. But just for a few hours.

I actually had the opportunity (through Light of the World Ballet) to dance at a women's prison facility. This was my first time ever being in a prison. I don't think I really knew what to expect, but I soon discovered it was kind of like the movies. Lots of cement, heavy, loud doors, police officers. Not gonna lie, it was pretty intimidating. Our contact here was Deputy Eagan, a kind woman who has been there for 30+ years, and said that she considers it her mission field!

And then we started to unload, and anything that could have possibly went wrong, went wrong. First there was figuring out where to do quick change (our dressing room was in a different part of the facility, and we had to get escorted there), and then we realized we had forgotten a couple of key costume pieces. Then the floor got laid, but ended up having some major wrinkles in it... and then we got to dancing.

The dancing part went pretty well. We did Alive, and Digee Dime, a couple of more fun, upbeat dances to start out with - the women liked those :) And then we started the Crown. I wasn't sure how they were going to respond, because its definitely ballet, even though it tells a story. (This was one of those moments where you trust God and say - well, this is all we got - use it!) And an amazing thing happened. The women, who were already attentive before, got pretty caught up in the story. I even saw a couple of inmates watching from the inside of their cells (most of them were allowed out and were sitting in chairs). At the end, we did Hail to the King, and I saw several women wiping tears from their eyes....Elisa told me later that in the middle of the dance, she had seen one woman watching from the inside of her cell, and then go kneel at the foot of her bed, her hands clasped in front of her, crying out to God. Oh man, the Spirit of God was at work!

Ashley had already given a salvation message, and we wanted to finish with Healing Hands, this dance (basically arm motions) that we lead people in doing at the end of most of our performances. I always love doing it, but last night it had special significance - part of the lyrics say "no matter where I am, healing is in Your hands." Wow, how profound is that when you're in prison! My favorite, favorite part was seeing some of the inmates doing the dance with us from behind bars in their rooms. WOW. I again saw many women in tears after that.....

Jesus, your love knows no bounds.....

I am still praying that these women would come to know the love of Jesus. Lord continue the work you have begun in them....refresh, restore, redeem.

So last night I was in prison. And I can't wait to go back :)