God will meet you right where you are

The first day of our Marriage Seminar is always the best example of how God uses everything in our lives to meet us right where we are.

Each and every single person is so different and has such a separate set of issues and challenges and yet there is an almost instant bond that occurs when the volunteers and inmate wives first meet. The second that everyone sits down and shares a meal together something happens to spark a connection that is hard to explain and impossible to manufacture. Today 37 individuals ate lunch as strangers, but will leave this weekend as friends.

Thanks to the wonderful ministry of Bethel Temple in Bryan/College Station, our volunteers and Wives had a great meal together to began this weekends journey. The church not only supplied a great space to host our first meeting today they also had beautiful place settings made for us and served each of our volunteers and wives with great enthusiasm and grace.

From there we made our way into the prison and through security and into the room where the remainder of this weekend's seminar will unfold. Friday Night is typically a flood of emotions for every single person in the room. The room quickly fills with tears of joy, laughter and smiles as each of the husbands are led to there anxiously awaiting wives. Each of the couples is allowed to greet their spouse with a hug and kiss and sit next to their wives, many for the first time since having been locked up. Each couple is used to having very limited contact, if any, with each other, and are not accustomed to sitting side by side at all.

"Ok, Fellas, Take a long good look at that pretty lady sitting next to you.....ok look back at me.....you owe me big time". Johnny Moffitt, as he introduced the team

In all seriousness, the aim of this night is to let each couple savor these moments and to allow everyone to take in the reality that this weekend will represent as many hours of time together as half a year or more in regular visitation.

As the evening progressed everyone was again able to share a meal together and sit and just talk. This is a very important time and is not rushed in any way. Every inmate is thrilled to be able to enjoy "free world" even if for only one weekend.

Someone even said; "It has been a long time since I have been full. It feels weird."

We continued with a time of worship and a time for the volunteers and Johnny and Betty to begin to share why Worldwide Voice In the Wilderness hosts, and attends these seminars.

Javier Mendoza gave a powerful testimony of how his family has broken the bondage of prison in their lives. He shared how each of the men and women have a God given responsibility and privilege to live a life of abundance and not of captivity. He also shared how his father, turned away from prison life to become the best example of a father, and a husband any one could ask for. Javier is able to share this story as a true life testimony of victory over statistics which say he is several times more likely be in prison because his father has been incarcerated. Through God's ever present grace, Javier can now stand as an example of God's glory and challenge these men to do the same in their lives.

Johnny shared from his heart and spoke straight to the hearts of the men and women. God used this special message to remind the men that HE has and always will meet us right where we are at if we will only let him. So many times we will "shift the heat" to someone else if it means saving our own skin when all God wants is for us to confess we are guilty and to accept his forgiveness. Johnny tells it like it is and always offers a refreshing dose of reality because of his genuine desire to see lives Changed.

It is safe to say, the first day in a Marriage Seminar is always fresh and never dull.

You can always count on God showing up!
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