Women's Prison

On January 12th the nine of us girls, accompanied by Mrs. Rollinson, performed for the female inmates at a local prison. They ranged in age from 16 to 87 years. Upon our arrival, Deputy Eagan (the lady who helped to organize our visit) escorted us to the administration office. She checked our I.D.s and had us lock up anything we had with us that was valuable, as well as cell phones, scissors, and any sharp objects (after the performance was over we also had to search around on the floor for any stray bobby pins that may have fallen out while dancing).

She then led us to the women's section of the prison. For security reasons, when we went down the hallways, we had to pass through rooms that had doors on both sides, and the one we had just come in from had to be tightly shut before we could proceed to go through the one before us. Also, we needed to have one of the deputies accompany us wherever we went.

We laid the floor for the performance in a large cement-block room, surrounded by the inmates' cells. During the set-up, as well as the performance, the ladies who were restricted from exiting their cells watched us through the small windows on their steel doors.

We had left some important costumes back at the studio by mistake, but were able to make due with what we had. It ended up looking great. One deputy commented on how impressed he was at the way the girls who were managing costumes treated one another when faced with a dilemma, and asked if they were always so kind to each other, or if it was just an act. I believe we ministered to him as much as to the prisoners.

We performed two shorter length pieces before performing “The Crown.” During the finale, one lady, who had been watching from inside her cell, began weeping and turned to kneel beside her bed with her hands clasped in front of her face. We could not hear her sobs or the words she was praying, but could tell that she had been touched deeply and the Lord was working in her heart.

At the end of the performance, Ashley shared the message of salvation from the microphone. The inmates, as well as the deputies, listened very attentively as she spoke. She then led in a prayer for anybody who wanted to accept Jesus as their savior. Although we were expecting them to pray silently in their hearts, most of them boldly repeated the prayer out loud after Ashley.

They were probably the most responsive audience we have had this season. There were women yelling and cheering from their cells and others crying. They asked many good questions afterward. One woman even yelled through the crack of her door and also rapidly flashed her ceiling light to get our attention, so that we would answer her question.

A couple of the women were pregnant and will have their babies while in prison --which makes me very sad. Mrs. Rollinson talked to quite a few inmates. One had already been there for 14 months and was going to be moved to a higher security jail soon, and for another, this was not her first time in jail.

We are thankful that the Lord used us to bring the message of salvation to these desperate women. Please pray that the Lord will continue to work in their hearts.

-Elisa-