Reflections on My Visit to the Perryville Women's Prison

Hey There!

Tonight I went to the Perryville Women’s Prison. I was invited by our very own Compass Prison Ministry team to come as a guest and see what they do each and every week in this facility that is literally in our backyard.

We went through all the security procedures, took a short bus ride, and arrived at the facility that would hold the 180 women who showed up. One by one the ladies trickled in, all wearing the same orange attire with “ADC” (Arizona Department of Corrections) stenciled in big black letters across the back.

It’s hard to imagine a women’s prison. Women aren’t supposed to go to jail. They’re typically the victims, not the perps. In our hearts we sense this. Very few movies depict women as the masterminds of evil, for example. Men are overwhelmingly the ones who commit the crimes that we deem worthy of serving time.

It’s equally hard to look at most of the women who were cramming into the worship service as criminals. Granted, I met a few I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley (unless I had a can of “family-size” pepper spray). But what’s a 20-something woman who could put on normal clothes and fit right in at the mall doing with prison tattoo’s and the whole “I’m a tough chick” swagger?

There’s only one explanation: A war has been waged for their souls, and the Enemy appears to be winning.

What no one ever told these women is that, in truth, they’re all Eve’s. They were born with the same purpose as this First Woman: to bear the image of God in the expression of a female.

The Bible says that Eve was created not with the rest of Creation but afterward. Only after Adam recognized that something was missing in a world that God called “very good” did God grace this Earth with the Other Side of his image. When Adam saw Eve, his reaction says it all,

"This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." (Gen. 2:23)

James Montgomery Boice notes that the first woman could have had all the strength and intellect of the man, but with a “beauty and grace” that excelled him. This would have stopped Adam in his tracks, as surely it did, in the state of mind of which folk singer Ellis Paul wrote, “And that is the mystery: here she is.”

It was under these circumstances that Eve came into the world. The woman was never to be worshipped as God, but was to be cared for, nurtured, and attended to for who she is: the finishing touch of God’s creation.

We have fallen so far since that day. As these women came in I could see evidence of the Enemy: Drugs, absent fathers, bad boyfriends, and a series of bad choices have been their history. Their war torn faces bore scars that come from a life lived far away from that original vision to which they were created: to be beautiful, to radiate the glory of God.

That’s where the Compass Prison Ministry comes in. This team of eight men and women come in each week and bring smiles, hugs, prayers of encouragement, music, and the message of the gospel.

Tonight there was a choir of 25 women who sang as well as any choir you’d hear on a Sunday morning. They’re led by an African-American woman who apparently reminds of them of Whoopi Goldberg’s character in the movie Sister Act. So they call her “Whoopie.”

This is the 35^th week that our Prison Ministry Team has been working in the prison, and it has grown from a few dozen to the over 180 that were there tonight. And when you hear them sing, laugh, and respond to the message, you can begin to sense the beauty starting to come back.

While they’ve all got a long way to go, tonight twenty women came forward who said they wanted to give their lives to Jesus. Bill Alford did a great job spelling the Gospel out simply, and told them that forgiveness and restoration is found only through the Cross of Christ and the love of our Great and Mighty God.

You see, the world does not possess the capacity to tell a woman who she really is or what she might become. These women all acted on exactly what the pop culture taught them: live for the moment, follow your heart, innocence is outdated, and a man is the key to happiness.

This is why we hold fast to the message that we do – it is the only thing that works! The Bible is the only book, the only book, whose message is large enough to fill the gaping holes of a woman’s soul.

So our team continues each week to bring hope and restoration to the fallen Eve’s of this world, whose spiritual captivity has resulted in physical captivity. And they are gaining ground. Over 300 women have come forward to receive Christ in the eight months they’ve been there. (There are only 700 women in that particular unit!). I spoke with several who are excited about getting back on the outside and leading lives that can glorify God, and you can tell they are serious.

Maybe you’ve read this and your heart is tugged toward wanting to help. While practically the prison ministry can involve only so many people, they are looking for one other person who is able to meet the high-level of commitment that a ministry of this nature requires. If you’re interested, contact Bill Alford at bill.alford@yahoo.com.

Aren’t you glad to be part of a church that is truly making a difference in our community? I am.