"I Need to Know God!"

The Juvenile Detention Center is filled with questioning young people who have tried the ways of the world and found them to be lacking. They are incarcerated for anything from theft or drug possession to running away from their foster home.   Some know that they are on a wrong path and some are seemingly content in their rebellion against the authority figures in their lives.  They all can agree one thing though--they don't like being in jail!

Susan is their chaplain.  She visits with them on Sunday mornings and Thursday nights.  She takes their prayer requests, challenges their thinking, teaches them about Jesus and the Bible and sometimes makes them laugh with Veggie Tales!   Daniel Jarvis (Larry & Sue's son) is their Sunday morning minister. Starting at 8AM, he brings a thought-provoking message and then leaves for his own church where he is an assistant pastor.  Ben Sprankle is their Sunday morning song leader.  He leads them in catchy Christian songs and  then sometimes they talk him into singing a solo for them.  He leaves at 9AM with Daniel to go back to their church.  Susan then reinforces the message and answers more questions that might have come up on the different topics covered that morning usually leaving between 9:15 and 9:30AM.   

The last Sunday  in June, our morning service came together and lives were changed,  perhaps eternally.  Ben began by having the youth (ages 11-18) sing about grace and redemption.  Then Daniel preached about the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.  Ben stepped forward and sang "God Ran,"  a heart-stopping song about that very story in the Bible.  The words go something like this... "and the only time I ever saw God run...was when He ran to me....threw His arms around me and said 'My son.....He called me son ... do you know I still love you?' "  The song ended and the room was hushed.  Ben prayed and then he and Daniel left.

The unusual silence continued as Susan stood, silently imploring the Lord to give her a finish to the morning that would glorify Him.  She spoke briefly about God's love for us and how, as a Father, it must grieve Him so deeply when we run away from His care and authority.  She spoke of parents whose children have died and how they never forget and the pain never ever leaves.  Then she spoke of the parents of kidnapped children and how they are always scanning crowds, always looking for that beloved child to come home.  The question was, "How must God feel when we go our own sinful way, never considering our Creator's pain."  She prayed that some of the youth would want to come home to Him, where they really belong and then prepared to leave.  But the morning wasn't finished........…

"Can I talk to you a minute?" whispered one.

Another waved his hand for me to come over to where he was sitting.

"Sue, can I talk with you when everyone leaves?"  asked yet another.

"I really need to talk to you," said a fourth. 

The rest of the group filed out to return to their cells.  A guard hovered in the back of the meeting room.  The first, a girl, begged me to pray that her father would finally come to visit her.  She just needed some caring attention.  The second shyly told me some good news that paralleled the morning's message.  His father, who had been so hurt by his son's disobedience, had decided to let him come back home to live after all!   They had reconciled!  The boy would not turn 18 in jail and then become a homeless person after all.  What a great answer to prayer for this boy.

Then came the third.  He cleared his throat, looked me in the eye and said, "Since last week I have been thinking about alot of stuff.   My attitude about life is changing.   Sue, I need to know God.  What should I do?"   Joyfully, Susan shared the timeless truths of salvation and then she prayed with this 14 year old boy to repent of his sins and follow Christ.

The fourth shuffled forward and sat down next to Sue.  With a quiet desperation in his voice, he said, "I need God.  I don't want to be this way anymore."  This young man is looking at a year in juvenile prison which is, from what we can gather, a very scary place.  (Most of the youth ask for prayers that they won't be sent there or if they are, that they won't be beat up or raped!)  He prayed with Sue to give his heart to the Lord.  Before he left for prison, he told Sue that he was feeling so much better about himself--like a load had been lifted off of him.  Please pray for him - for his safety and for the Lord to place him in a facility with Christian chaplains where he can learn more about the Christian life.

What a joy-filled morning for Susan as she drove back home.  The angels in heaven were rejoicing over these young sinners who had repented and so was she!  What a great thing to see the Lord at work in the hearts of these kids, many of whom we have worked with repeatedly since the detention center opened in September of  1999.  The truth is sinking in.....and they are responding to it, not because we have staged an elaborate emotional event for them or begged them to close their eyes and raise their hands, but because they felt compelled to do so.  The Holy Spirit gave the invitation to their hearts and they responded.

Is there anything better in life than seeing the work of the Lord in a life?    We don't think so!