Wall Breakers
When we give of ourselves to help others, does it matter what our motives are?
One of the most amazing things about a Kairos Weekend is witnessing the power of God's love manifested in the Holy Spirit.
People come together as a team to follow a basic script, share their personal stories and be fully in the present letting God do His work through them, and every time, whether they stick to the program of go off on their own, God comes through.
What they and the guests have in common is faith.
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? - James 2:14
I can't share any of the particulars of this past weekend. It would be a breech of confidence. But I can share this.
On a very personal note, it is joyfully stressful and extremely worth the work involved.
Why is it stressful?
The weekend is not about us. It is about and for the guests, women impacted by incarceration. And all of us who have a desire to be in control of our lives find it very stressful to let go and let God take over. We think He needs our help. He doesn't.
So, why, then, does James tell us to do works if God doesn't need help?
Ah, that's the lesson, isn't it?
In order to strengthen the spirit, it needs to be worked, as iron needs to be worked into steel. We are all spiritual beings and the spirit is strengthened through itself, meaning, it is through connection with the spirit in others that the spirit grows stronger and does amazing things to help change us.
Someone trapped behind a brick wall can push with all his might and not be able to topple the wall, but when another joins in, and another, the wall starts to feel the stress and eventually, it will give.
The weekend is like that, spirit joining with spirit, breaking down walls.
When we follow the script and put our energy into the program rather than in fighting each other, as we humans love to do, no wall can stand in the way of the spirit within us, and the guests break free of their prisons.
In the process, hopefully, we learn that it is not our works that does this, but it is through our works that God does this.
Join us next time and become a wall breaker, too.
More to come...
Kairos Outside is a ministry of Kairos Prison Ministry International.