Non-denominational Christian Media Missions • Reaching Russia, Asia and the Islamic World
I Was in Prison - You Visited Me!
| I Was in Prison — You Visited Me! |
 |
 |
As messengers of the Gospel, we cannot simply walk by the needy without extending a helping hand. We have been touched deeply by children, the ones who suffer the most. This is why we are helping child prisoners and street children in Russia and Central Asia. This summer we continued the humanitarian and spiritual outreach to these children.
Prison ministry teams have noticed how the young inmates open their hearts to the Gospel when they spend time with the children.
"They saw how Christians were eager to visit them and provide them with desperately needed clothing and hygiene packs; not just promising to bring them, but actually delivering on their promise without further ado, says Sergei Konstantinov," GCM Ministries liaison. Prison ministry teams have noticed how the young inmates open their hearts to the Gospel when they spend time with the children and deliver the precious packages. Church ministry teams visit many prisons in the area on an ongoing basis. This means that any children who appear indifferent to the visits get more than one chance to open up to the life-changing Gospel message. Many children have come to faith in Jesus because of our visits with them in prison. Later, the prison ministry teams will visit them again, counseling the kids and helping them to grow in their new faith. Ministry teams also visited a nearby women’s prison where 3000 female inmates are incarcerated. 130 children of these women are also housed in a children’s ward on site. Many of the children are infected with the HIV virus; yet nobody seems to care for these children. New Area of Neglect Since GCM Ministries began its outreach to Children’s Prisons in Russia and Central Asia, a new area of neglect of children’s needs has been brought to our attention—minimum security Juvenile Detention Centers. No barbed wire fences surround these facilities, but living conditions are very similar to what we found in children’s prisons. These correctional institutions are probably worse off than the children’s prisons because they do not receive any kind of social assistance from the government. 
GCM Ministries, with the enthusiastic help of local churches in each area, has taken aid packages and the Gospel to most of the children's prisons and correctional institutions.
GCM Ministries, with the enthusiastic help of local churches in each area, has taken aid packages and the Gospel to most of the children's prisons and correctional institutions. In every place we visited, we were met with surprised looks and yearning faces. Russian officials have long pondered why we are helping these imprisoned children. In every institution we visited, we heard the same story repeated: “We need this kind of help. We want to work with you in this way!” |
