cont...
The large-scale lockdown involved massive preparations, particularly in provisioning all necessary food and medicine beforehand. The plans had to be made in the utmost secrecy because of the extensive corruption. If the information had been leaked, the plan would have been foiled. Poncho, along with all of the Christian prison guards, prepared themselves in prayer for what they knew would be even more difficult – having over 2,000 inmates going through drug withdrawals at the same time.
This purging process was the turning point for the prison’s transformation. The prison has not only maintained itself as a clean prison, but has experienced a level of transformation that has made it a case study for a United Nations team. The inmates have constituted themselves as the Church in the prison which is now over 650 strong, with many more open to the gospel.
Shortly after this, Juan Fernandez, an attorney in Poncho’s church, was appointed as the new prison director. He says about this experience, "That's when I found out that I could really make a difference in people's lives. To me, it's much, much better to be a minister in the marketplace, doing what I'm doing, bringing not only the gospel but justice outside the four walls of the church."
TODAY THE PRISON, TOMORROW THE CITY
The Church has had great impact not only on the prison system, but also throughout the city. "We have in our own congregation several business people that are taking a step of faith, changing their paradigms, focusing outside of the four walls of the church building and actually working as pastors of their own places of business."
About all this, Poncho says, "The Kingdom of God is coming to the city of Juarez, and we can see the results. The principles that God is giving Ed Silvoso about transformation have always been a confirmation in my own life of what God is doing."
They are taking the kingdom of God to where the gates of hell have been and proving that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. In the process, they are rewriting the history of their city.
Transformational Churches DVD now available at our bookstore.
Write a comment
- Required fields are marked with *.
