God in Prison

While we were at Maranatha, Jim Cymbala showed a DVD of how God is working in what used to be one of the bloodiest prisons in the United States, the Louisiana State Penitentiary also known as Angola.

This particular plot of land in Louisiana used to be a slave plantation. It received its nickname “Angola” because of the large slave population from that African nation. In the early 1900s, Louisiana purchased the property and turned it into a penitentiary. Just over a decade later the state, out of a desire to save money, got rid of the professional guards and allowed select inmates to guard the other guards. This obviously led to a lot of abuse. Some older inmates tell stories of how guards were bribed with cigarettes and a few bucks to kill other inmates. This corrupt system lasted until 1972 when the U.S. courts ended the practice, but not until Angola had rightfully been named “the bloodiest prison in America.”

As a footnote, the movie The Green Mile is based in Angola in the 1920s.

Since that time there have been many prison reforms that have helped “clean up” Angola. However, many give credit to current warden Burl Cain and his introduction of “faith-based initiatives,” most notably, Christian bible studies. During Cain’s tenure, many of Angola’s inmates, most of them serving life sentences, have come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. In the 1990s, under Cain’s direction, the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary began offering degrees in ministry. It is now estimated that there are approximately 1,500 born-again Christians in the population of 5,000. Burl Cain proudly states that the “gangs” in his prison are gangs of accountability and people who want to serve others! This dramatic turn-around is documented in Dennis Shere’s Cains Redemption.

The reason Jim Cymbala showed this DVD is because it features the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir and the work that they are doing in Angola. Cymbala has befriended many of the inmates, and Cain has allowed the choir to perform concerts for the whole population. The DVD, titled The Miracle of Hope, focuses in on the lives of five inmates and how the gospel of Jesus Christ has changed them and this prison. It is pretty amazing.

One quick story from Cymbala: There is a 70-something-year-old inmate nicknamed “Bishop” who served over 50 years in Angola. He was there through all of the toughest times (and he even served as one of the inmate guards!). Over time he was changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ and has had quite a ministry in prison. When Bishop was up for parole recently, the board wanted to know what Bishop would do upon release. Warden Burl Cain told them that Bishop would be housed by Jim Cymbala and the people of Brooklyn Tabernacle. He told them this without even asking Pastor Cymbala! However, Burl Cain knows the heart of Brooklyn Tabernacle and he was right: Pastor Cymbala heartedly agreed to take Bishop in. Surprisingly, Bishop received parole and was released into the care of Brooklyn Tabernacle. He is now experiencing his dream of living in New York City and is being cared for by the good people of Brooklyn Tabernacle.

Pastor Cymbala has a dream of creating a network of churches around the country who will accept paroled prisoners from Angola, both Christian and non-Christian, as a ministry to this disenfranchised group of men. Is that missional or what?

I was reminded of this story the other night when I was reading David Turner’s commentary on Matthew. Turner notes that it is significant that Matthew mentions Jesus’ residence in Capernaum (Matthew 4:12). Why is this significant? “Capernaum is not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, but for Matthew its obscurity signifies a dark place on which the light is about to shine.”

Angola is a dark place on which the light of Jesus Christ is shining. Praise God.