You will find Him in the streets. You will find Him in the prisons.

"You will find Him in the streets. You will find Him in the prisons..."

These are words penned by Michael Gungor in a song called "Cannot hold you".

The other day these words became a reality for me.....

We spent 2 days up North about 8 hours bus ride from Manila to have time with one of the loveliest couples we know.  Mark and Mary Ritchie are beautiful friends to us.They have faithfully served here in the Philippines for 12 years and are being called into a new season to go back to the UK. The legacy they are leaving at Sefton Village is nothing short of a miracle. Its just an amazing place. They have built up a school, a children's home, bible college,planted 16 churches and raised up a strong team of 70 Filipinos. I'm sure I have forgotten something, but you get the idea. They have done an incredible work. What inspired Ron and I more than anything was that Christ really is at the centre of every single ministry. Jesus at the centre of it all- the way it should be. 

On  Saturday morning we were honoured to join their team in prison ministry. They have been going here every week for 6 years if I'm not mistaken.
Ron has had lots of experience in prison ministry as he used to be part of a wonderful work in Subic that are still faithfully serving inmates and their children. Anyway, for me it was the first time to go inside a Filipino prison.

By the time we got in the worship had already started. Their JOY was contagious!.It took only moments to enter into the spirit of worship that was so present. I totally forgot where I was. It was a powerful moment as I saw how The Truth really does set men and women free.

It wasn't until I opened my eyes and was confronted with a wash of faded yellow prison t shirts that I remembered .....

We were in a place where up to 50 men share a tiny cell. I saw them. There wasn't even any room for all of them to stand at the one time. Their room was dark and smelly.

We were in a place where no one had been on trial yet. Many had already been waiting for years.

I learned that in the Filipino justice system you are guilty until proven innocent. I learned that the more money you have, the faster your trial. There were many things I could not understand about the system and the conditions these people were living in. But I was sure of one thing-
God was in this place.
It was an awesome experience to be part of the baptism of 29 inmates. As each of them stumbled into the well used blue barrel they were proclaiming that old things had passed away and all things had become new. Just a really humbling moment to witness the transforming love of Jesus.

The next night we travelled back on the over night bus so that we could make it back in time for the church anniversary in Tondo. (I should say the experience riding on the top bunk with a baby on that bus probably deserves its own blog!) :)

We were home for 20 minutes to get a much needed shower and then back out to go to the dump site. As we walked the muddy streets I was reminded once again-
God is in this place.
The children who have come to know Jesus have an unshakable joy! Sometimes it challenges me to the very core.
Here are beautiful children living  amongst stinking trash. Some have been abandoned here. Many go days without food. Some experience abuse.Yet when they close their eyes and chose to focus on Jesus they encounter worship in such a tangible way. His beauty shines through them.

Isn't it awesome how God Almighty,the One who holds the seas in the palm of His hand would choose to dwell in these places? He chooses to abide in the places and people that human reasoning would not imagine.His eyes look past the labels that this world would force upon us and sees the heart- sees what we can become in Him.
Amazing grace.