“After our talk, we went to an apartment complex, door-to-door, sharing the Gospel. Then we went to a nursing home and prayed for the sick. After that, a group of single men met at his house to pray for the strength to be single and celibate in this sinful world. It was like I was finally home! I joined the church, and a few weeks after that, I was taking my first trip to Mexico.” Kenneth reached out to Pastor Gonzales. “On that trip, I met Pastor G. Only, he wasn’t a pastor then.”
“I walked up to him at the end of the service and told him I wanted to know how to be saved,” Pastor Gonzales said. “And not only that, I wanted to know what I needed to do after that—”
Now James was sure they were having this conversation for his benefit. He didn’t mind. Pastor Gonzales and Kenneth were more like him than he had expected.
“That’s exactly how I was feeling at my old church,” Kenneth interrupted, “like I started the process, but I was failing to move forward. Yes, it is important to be a Christian, but I just didn’t want to be somebody who was calling himself a Christian and not acting the part. Yeah, I wanted to walk the walk and talk the talk. I wanted it all, whatever God had for me. I had been sold out in the world, and now I wanted to be sold out for the Lord.
“Hey, Pastor G,” Kenneth said, “you have got to take us to that place that makes that delicious mole.”
Pastor Gonzales laughed heartily. “They close early today, which is why I picked up some this morning.”
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Kenneth said, smiling from ear to ear.
James almost smiled too, until he remembered he didn’t have anything to smile about.
Chapter 30
So far, his Mexican trip was going nothing like he had imagined. James thought he was going to some rural area where he would see masses of poor people walking around, looking sick, like the infomercials he would flip past while looking for a game to watch.
James was actually looking forward to sleeping underneath the stars and escaping the busyness of the city. But this looked like a major metropolitan city, and Pastor Gonzales had a large upscale apartment, right in the middle of the action, with a washer and dryer, two and a half baths, and three furnished bedrooms.
James quietly stepped out of his bed and walked to the kitchen, hoping he didn’t wake up Kenneth or Pastor Gonzales. The smell of coffee and a dim light let him know he wasn’t the only one that couldn’t sleep.
“You too?” Pastor Gonzales said solemnly while he poured James a cup of coffee.
James sat across from him at a richly adorned wooden table.
“Thanks for letting me stay here.”
“It is my pleasure to help Pastor Benjy. He is a great man of God.”
James sipped his coffee. It had to be the best he had ever tasted. “This is very good.”
“The best in the world. There are two things I like to spoil myself with: fine coffee and fine food.”
James tried to make conversation. “I thought you were about to say women.”
“We just met and we know each other so well.” Pastor Gonzales smiled. “Yes, my friend, before Jesus, there were three things I spoiled myself with.
“Why are you up, anyway?” Pastor Gonzales asked.
So much for sitting and sipping quietly on his coffee, James thought.
“You go first,” James said.
“Tomorrow, our day in the prison, has me concerned. Well, the truth is that I’m a little nervous. I have been reading my scriptures, meditating on the Word, and praying for the last few weeks. I’m still very, very, nervous.” Pastor Gonzales stood up from the table. “I keep telling myself it is perfectly normal to be scared.... I mean, nervous. I mean, we are going to preach the Word. Even the apostle Paul had a healthy dose of fear. Right?”
James shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t know anything about the apostle Paul’s fears or anything else. Pastor Gonzales didn’t seem to notice. He kept walking from one end of the table to the next.
“I know that Pastor Benjy is familiar with the American prison system, but I’m not sure he understands the Mexico City system. American prisons are high-tech, with trained staff, and highly armed guards. Here, this is just not so. Our guards aren’t properly trained; they don’t have the weapons they need. Some prisons are run by gangs, and male rape isn’t an isolated incident but standard practice.
“Then there’s this practice called ‘lockup’ in the prison where we are going tomorrow. In early afternoon, the prisoners are given their dinner in a small paper bag. After this, they are sent to their cells, big open spaces, where first-time offenders are held captive, right along with seasoned murderers and rapists. By the time the sun goes down, most of the staff has left and the prison is locked up until the morning.”
“What? So once the guards lock up, they don’t go back in?”
“Exactly, my friend, not until morning. If one of the gangs decides they want to recruit you for the position of ‘wifey,’ otherwise known as sex slave, there will be no guards to help you. That’s why HIV is spreading so quickly.”
“Are you serious?” James shook his head. What have I gotten myself into?
“Are you going tomorrow?” Pastor G asked.
James didn’t answer. He simply poured himself another cup of coffee and went back to his room.
There was a knock at his door. “They are on their way to pick us up,” Kenneth said. “Are you coming?”
James was dressed and ready to go. All day, he had been in his bedroom, awaiting this knock. He had thought about completely ignoring the knock; maybe they would just leave him. James hated the thought of appearing weak.
The knock came again, only louder this time.
“James, are you coming or not, man?”
“Yeah, I’ll be out in a sec,” James answered, wondering what made him say those words.
A few minutes later, he walked out of the bedroom and tried to make eye contact with Pastor Gonzales to see if he was feeling any better about this whole prison trip. Pastor Gonzales avoided his eyes. He was busying himself by stacking and then restacking several boxes full of Bibles.
Kenneth was eating some type of meat stuffed in a corn tortilla. He seemed completely oblivious to the tension in the room. James looked at Pastor Gonzales again. This time, he looked up, but James could tell the conversation they had last night should not be repeated.
There was a knock on the front door; Kenneth rushed to open it, grabbing two boxes filled with Bibles. Pastor Gonzales grabbed the other two, and all three men rushed down the stairs.
There was a van waiting for them. They put the Bibles in the back of the van and joined the others. James sat in the back and tried to take in as much information as he could about what was supposed to happen today.
This would be a united effort. Three of the teams would walk into one of Mexico’s toughest prisons. They had tried other locations, but the leaders of those prisons had done everything possible to put obstacles in their way. However, this particular prison had a Christian woman on staff who was instrumental in allowing them to get clearance. She would be meeting them as soon as they walked through the doors.
Pastor Gonzales seemed completely alarmed that a woman was working in a prison guarding men. “Will she be coming in with us?”
Pastor Benjy replied, “No, I told her that wouldn’t be necessary. But she actually wanted to come.”
Pastor Gonzales still seemed bewildered. James no longer cared about appearing weak. He had to know if Pastor Benjy was aware of the danger. James asked, “Are the prison guards properly armed in this particular prison?”
“No,” Pastor Benjy said. “Not only is this prison one of the worst in Mexico, it is also one of the poorest. If something goes wrong, we will not be able to depend on the guards and their guns.
“Also, we might be spending the entire night in the prison,” Pastor Benjy added, like it was an unimportant side note. Pastor Gonzales looked like he was going to vomit.
�
��Why is that?” James tried to sound calm.
“Well, the only way that they would let us go in was if we went in at our own risk. If something goes wrong at some point during the service, the guards might not feel comfortable going in until the morning, when they have a full staff.”
“Why didn’t we just plan this trip during the morning ?” Pastor Gonzales asked.
“After talking with our contact, she suggested that we go in during lockup hours. First, because we could speak with more prisoners at once, and secondly, because going in without a net will get the attention of the prisoners. They will see that we truly believe in the God that we serve. If we had planned the service in the morning, we would have looked scared and unsure of ourselves. We can’t be frightened to go where they live and talk to them on their level.”
“Pastor Benjy,” James said loudly, hoping everyone in the van heard him. “Have you ever heard about what happens in this prison when they are locked up all night?”
“Yes—yes, I have, James. I have been called by God to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth. These men need to know that Jesus has made a way out of no way for them.”
One of the Mexican pastors spoke for the first time. “Prisoners are people too. Perhaps they act like savages because they are treated like savages. We are treating them like men, and we’ll be speaking with them, face-to-face, just like you would speak to any man.”
James had heard enough. Everything he was hearing was only making him more nervous, anyway. They rode the rest of the way in silence.
When they arrived, they learned their contact was late. Pastor Benjy always looked so cool, but he clearly didn’t like having to wait for her. They had just finished praying. They had formed a prayer circle right outside the doors of the prison before they walked in. This time, James hadn’t had a problem standing in a circle and holding hands with a bunch of men.
Pastor Benjy must have prayed for fifteen minutes. James hoped he would have prayed for fifteen more. After the prayer, they were escorted to a small room to get briefed by their contact. After that, they would be walking into a large communal cell—as Pastor Benjy put it—“to share the love of Jesus.”
Their contact walked into the room, a half hour late, with the grace of a beautiful, exotic butterfly. James couldn’t keep his eyes off her. He looked around to see if the other men had noticed this vision of womanly perfection. With the exception of Pastor Benjy, who had stood up to greet the young woman, the other men were looking at the table, doing everything they could to avoid looking at her.
She spoke to Pastor Benjy privately for a minute and then cleared her throat to address the group. She was utterly confused when only James and Pastor Benjy seemed to be listening.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Lara,” Pastor Benjy apologized. “It’s just that you are a beautiful young woman and our men have made the pact of Job. As Job did, they have made a covenant with their eyes not to look lustfully at women.”
“Job 31:1, I know it very well,” she said. Ms. Lara seemed impressed.
James was certainly impressed. She was covered from head to toe in her uniform, but that did nothing to hide her shapely figure. James wanted to run his fingers through her long, flowing hair. She looked more like a supermodel than she did a prison worker. James started to feel more comfortable. If she felt safe walking around here, then it must be okay.
“It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to Mexico City,” Ms. Lara said. “You have no idea how I, my family, and my church have been praying for this day. As you know, this prison, as well as Mexico City as a whole, is plagued with many serious issues. I believe that God whom we serve is concerned with all of them, from the least to the greatest. I can see by your bravery that you serve the one true God, just as I do.
“I do not take it lightly what you are doing today. I teach English as a second language in prisons throughout Mexico. I know what a dangerous mission this is. I know that you have family members that love you and do not want you in harm’s way. Yet, you come. You come because you love Jesus and you love His people.”
James found his eyes lingering on her thighs. Pastor Benjy shot him a look. James turned his attention back to her face.
After she finished speaking, they each stood up, one at a time. They formed a single-file line, as if in grade school. The teacher, Pastor Benjy, was ahead of them, walking his class into what could be a death chamber, not a playground for recess.
James thought his heart was going to beat through his chest. He had sweat forming at his temples and sliding down his face. He closed his hands in fists and then opened them again, like boxers do right before they enter the ring. He needed to do something to try to alleviate the tension that was building up inside him. He wanted to jog around in a few circles, but he decided against it.
They walked down a long cement hallway. There were two expressionless armed guards on either side of the mechanical gate. One guard pushed the button to open the gate. It slowly opened from bottom to top. The guard motioned for them to walk in. James hoped the armed guards would follow. However, they both stayed safely outside the gate, along with Ms. Lara.
Pastor Benjy led them past the gate and into the cell. It was worse than James expected. It wasn’t enough that there were at least 200 men within inches of them, but they were barely clothed. Plus, the smell was so bad, James couldn’t find a word to describe it. There had to be decaying bodies underneath the soil floor. James glanced down for just a second, sure he was going to see maggots.
Looking down for that second caused him to drop a few steps behind the line. He stepped faster, but not too fast. He knew enough not to look scared. After all, just a few weeks ago, he was a seasoned officer of the law in a major city. But he also had a revolver on his hip and a radio to call for armed backup. As much as he hated to admit it, James knew that nothing in his career had prepared him for this.
At this moment, there was a multitude of prisoners that could grab him, squeeze the life out of him, and there wouldn’t be anything Pastor Benjy or the guards could do about it. James wished the prisoners would talk or move around or do something—behave like a group of men in suits came around here all the time.
Instead, each of the inmates was quietly standing still as the pastors made their way to the front area. It was clear that this didn’t happen every day, and each man wanted to make sure he didn’t miss one single part of the show. James felt he was going to faint. The smell was unbearable.
They reached the front. It must have been where they kept the bodies, James concluded, because all of a sudden, a swarm of the biggest flies he had ever seen started to fly past their heads.
Pastor Benjy and Pastor Gonzales, his translator, walked to the makeshift podium. It was nothing more than some cardboard that marked the spot. Pastor Benjy would say a few sentences and then Pastor Gonzales would translate.
“Gentlemen, let me tell you about a man,” Pastor Benjy said. “Let’s say his name is Sam. Sam committed horrible crimes. What’s the worst crime you can think of? Is it murder, rape, molestation? Whatever it is, Sam is standing before a judge having been convicted of the crime. He has been given the death sentence because of the horrific crimes he has committed.
“Right before Sam is to be killed, a man comes forward. This man explains that he wants to take Sam’s punishment for him. All Sam has to do is receive it. Sam receives this man’s offer and walks out of jail a free man.”
The inmates were silent.
“I used that illustration to explain to each of you what Jesus Christ had done on your behalf and on my behalf. Each one of us—all of you, and all of us—is like Sam. We have committed sins that are worthy of us going to hell. The Bible says that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. ‘All’ means ‘everybody.’
“There is a one hundred percent chance that each one of us is going to die. The only question is where we will go when we leave this earth. There are two destinations. One is heaven, and the othe
r is hell.”
Several of the prisoners started nervously shifting from side to side.
“The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. That means we all deserve to go to hell because of our sins. But because God loves us so much, He sent someone to die in our place. Jesus Christ died and took the punishment for our sins. All we have to do is receive His death as payment for our sins. When we do this, we get to go to heaven.
“Now, what if we don’t receive His death as payment for our sins? In that case, we get what we deserve. Hell—” Pastor Benjy’s sermon was interrupted.
“What’s that, preacher man?” a man yelled in broken English from the back of the pack. “I didn’t kill anybody. I stole a few things, but not much. So, shouldn’t I go to heaven? I’m not a bad person. I’m not like them.” He pointed to a group of about ten men with wigs, makeup, and female clothes. “These are the types that deserve hell,” the man said.
“Only you don’t have a hell to send them to,” Pastor Benjy replied. “God loves me, you, and them. He sent His Son to die for all of us. If they repent, turn away from their sins, and receive Jesus’ death as payment for their sins, they get to go to heaven, just like the rest of us. As I said, we have all fallen short of the glory of God. Homosexuality, sex outside of marriage, adultery, drunkenness, thievery, gossip—all of it is wrong.
“The men that stand with me, we have all lived a lifestyle full of sin. You name it, and we did it. But we turned away from that lifestyle and now we follow Jesus.” The prisoners were clearly getting agitated and were no longer listening to Pastor Benjy.
The prisoners dressed like women were whispering to each other. The prisoner who had spoken out against them was talking to the men around him. All of a sudden, he started patting his chest and yelling something in Spanish.
“It’s time to go.”
James recognized the pleasing voice coming from the loudspeaker. It was their contact, Ms. Lara. James took a deep breath. Pastor Benjy looked frustrated. It was clear he wasn’t ready to go.
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