A Calling That Changed My Life

The first time I read through the Bible, I was struck by Matthew 25:36. When I read, “I was in prison, and you visited me,” I paused and had thoughts that I now believe came from the Holy Spirit. I was a recently baptized Adventist and had no experience in prison ministry, but I had relatives who had gotten in trouble and spent time in prison, and no one visited them. I realized there were still people in prison whom no one was visiting. I felt impressed that I needed to visit them. 

Having no experience in prison ministry, I didn’t know how to begin. But God already had a plan. Soon after that impression, I attended a camp meeting where there was an announcement about a need for help at a prison near where I lived. It was the beginning of my involvement in prison ministry that lasted for 20 years as a layperson and played a critical role in shaping my path as a pastor. I believe I gained more from my visits with prisoners than I gave.

The best preparation for Jesus’ Second Coming is to help the neediest among us. Many churches have ministries to help with food, clothing and other needs, but often the need is so great that it’s overwhelming. I’m reminded of the story of a boy walking along a beach with thousands of starfish stranded in the sand. He began picking them up and throwing them back into the ocean. An older man watching him told him there were so many starfish stranded that he couldn’t make a difference. As the boy threw another one back, he said, “It made a difference for this one.” Although we can’t help every person, we can help one or two.

We can ask God to show us how to get involved in a ministry that helps others. We can seek to be the Good Samaritan to one person whom God might put in our pathway. We are reminded in Proverbs 19:17, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his deed.” Also, Deuteronomy 15:11 says, “For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore, I command you to open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy, and to the poor in the land.” In Isaiah 58, we are encouraged to share our bread with the hungry and bring the stranger into our house because “then, your light shall break forth like dawn, and your healing shall spring forth speedily.” Jesus tells us that He so identifies Himself with the suffering, poor, sick and prisoners that when we are helping them, we are ministering to Him and getting closer to Him. The Lord is speaking to me in these verses—and I hope to you also. 

It would be good for us to ask the Lord how we can get involved in serving the marginalized. I pray that when Jesus comes, we’ll be in the group to whom He says, “Come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you took me in, I was naked, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you visited me, I was in prison, and you came to me.”

By James Shires

President

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