Remember those in prison

"Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering." 

(Heb.13:3)

You were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
You made a bad decision and now this is your home for the next 20 years. 
This is a picture of one of the "nicer"cells in a women's prison. 
Most will hold 4 or 5 women and the men's prisons are ten times worse.
Most prisoners will have no mattress or space and many end up outside in the elements with only tarps for shelter.

We were actually able to get into four different prisons while in Chile. In the largest men’s prison, we were authorized to perform in the very center of the prison, which is called “the Oval”. All the patios connect to it so the entire prison was able to hear besides, the 600 that that were let into the oval to attend, as our words and music echoed throughout the walls. It is such an immense privilege and great responsibility to have so many men looking to you and hanging on your every word. 

Presenting in the Oval of the largest prison in Chile. 

A Picture from off the internet to show you what "the oval" looks like from above.

I wrote an act we do using a song called “Alegria”, which combines clowns, magic and dance. It carries the message that if we care about others, more than ourselves, we find joy (alegria), and the answer to our own problems. After some of our presentations the prisoners will tell us that it took them back to their childhood, reminded them of seeing a circus and thank us for giving them the gift of joy. They all laugh when in the act I take a cell phone from a clown dressed as a prisoner (my brother) and make it vanish since phones are illegal but often smuggled in. Once the guards freaked out and I had to hurry up and show them it was a toy, (oops).

This is the first step to getting into a prison. 
Go to the front gate,  explain and then re - explain why in the world a blond girl from the States is knocking on a third world prison, ask to speak to whoever is in charge, and then follow the steps till we get in. Most times it takes a lot of work, time, letters, phone calls and series of meetings with high ranking officials, but of all things worth fighting for in life,  they are worth fighting for. 

There are some cell blocks where the men are NEVER let out into the court to exercise. It is really hard to see all these men hanging on the bars and reaching their arms out hoping to receive anything, even just a little attention. After we were done with our presentation, we went over and just talked to the men that had seen our show, but can not get out from behind the bars. We gave them some things we had and tried to lift their spirits. A lot of them have a life sentence.  It was a very cold, cloudy day and had just snowed heavy on the mountains the day before. Some of these guys were freezing and I was glad to have some extra clothes to give some of them. 

Jesus said, "I was in prison, and you came to visit Me...
whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, 
you did for Me."(Mt.25:36)

This one guy who had just gotten in, maybe 20 years old, told us that one day he was so hungry, he went into a store and was going to steal something to eat, when another guy tried to stop him. He ended up killing the guy by mistake and now was here for the rest of his life. Another guy came up just started weeping and thanking us. We have all made mistakes, some worse than others and we can never take them back or change our past. But WE can change, and thus resolve our present situation and find a future. 
The Colonel who authorized our entry as well as all the guards, also watch our performances and are very grateful. In some cases we have had directors of prisons tell us how our presentation has changed the conduct of certain prisoners, making it easier for the guards.

One of the cell blocks that is not allowed into the Oval to exercise or move around.

Most all of Latin American prisons hold over double the capacity of prisoners they were built to hold.

We also visited the prison that had suffered a horrible fire in 2010. 81 prisoners were burned alive because they were trapped in their overcrowded cells and the guards were drunk and could not find the keys to let them out. Many of the men who died had not even been sentenced yet or legally accused of anything. Some of them were young fathers. The families of the victims have never received justice and protest outside the justice building. The prison still smells like smoke and is extremely depressing. Part of it has now been converted to a women’s prison and we performed for them as well. This one girl looked like she was 14 , just a child even though she was actually 18. Her whole family had been involved in drug smuggling but only she got caught. At the end she was crying in my arms, so sad to have to leave the happiness of this moment and go back to her cell, continuing to live a nightmare that is now her reality. Another lady told me she has five young children on the outside and never got to say goodbye to them. She has been here two years and not yet seen a judge.

A women's prison in Chile

This is the prison where the fire was. It was so dark, cold and depressing. Most every one was smoking and it was hard to breath.

We were able to present in two huge schools as well, one middle school and one high school, each over 600 kids. It takes a lot of work to effectively reach this many kids at the same time and keep them focused on what you are saying. You have to go from making them laugh, to then really hear what you are saying. All in all it went great and it amazes me sometimes the things that ten and twelve year olds say. Some of them really get our message and are very smart and quick to learn.  

A high school of over 700 kids.

A down town middle school of over 600 very excited kids (who seemed to be on red bull).

When I look at all their beautiful faces, I feel like we are sowing seeds into a garden with fresh soil. This is the age where you can really make an impression in their young hearts and minds. 

The teenagers are more difficult to get through to sometimes, since they are now at the age of trying to be cool and get the guy or girl to think they are funny. It just takes a lot of work on our part, we have to constantly change things up, sometimes be crazy and fun and then sometimes be really stern. Sometimes let them participate with us, and sometimes just teach them. They are at the time in their lives where the next few years are going to determine their future and we try to teach them about the gravity and consequences of the decisions they make, especially concerning matters of marriage and having children.

Doing a Tae Kwon Do form to teach them about discipline. Afterwards many of them participate with us. 

The other day we were out over ten hours going from performing at a women’s prison, to the down town center at rush hour. It is so busy here it’s insane. Our crowd constantly swelled and we had a very effective night. We were by a subway station that just poured out people. The subway gets so full, people are literally shoving hard to try to fit in and sometimes you have to wait a long time for a train with a bit of space on it. When my brothers and sisters and I travel the subway, often some of us will get on and the others don’t fit. One day there was a guy with a bike, a lady with a stroller, a guy with three kids coughing like crazy and two old ladies carrying one big box with a cake in it, all trying to get on at the same door. Needless to say, I did not make it on this train car. (If you ever come here and plan to take the metro, I highly recommend bringing your own personal oxygen tank). We do a comedy routine where we pantomime the fight to get on the subway in slow motion to a “chariots of fire” type song. It is hilarious and the crowd cracks up. God has given us a very effective ministry. By using humor to open up and win the crowd, we give ourselves an open door to then share serious things with them in a way that they have never heard before. 

Down town Chile late one night.

It was been really cold here and because of thick snow fall on the Andes mountains, the border has closed some days and we are calling to see when it is open. All though it is hard to leave here, soon the pass will become too dangerous to cross at this season so we plan to leave soon and return to Chile in the future.