I have had the opportunity to get involved in a program called the Lighthouse. It is a sort of transitional house for men coming out of prison and rehab. It is a Christian based program which seeks to help these men get back on their feet and overcome their addictions through the power of Christ. It’s a six month program and a group of students from the MTC (missionary training center) are involved at the Lighthouse through teaching and discipleship. We go as a team on Thursday nights and teach chronologically through the Bible.

Teaching is my passion and I have had the opportunity to teach several times this year already. As a team, we have been trying to sharpen each other and help each other become better teachers and communicators. If we hope to be able to communicate well in another language and culture, we must first be good communicators in our own language and culture. We meet together as a team before we teach that week and do a “trial run” of the lesson and get positive feedback as well as critiques on how to improve. This has helped so much in becoming a better teacher.

Last week I spoke on the Death of Christ and told the story of the last supper all the way until Jesus cried out “It is Finished!” and died on the cross. One of my goals was to bring out the injustice of the cross. All the men I was teaching to were felons and I started out my lesson by asking if any of them had ever been falsely accused of something. Every hand went up. This is something that really bothers these men who, because of their record, are always getting accused when something happens. I asked how that made them feel and they spoke about the unfairness and injustice of it. I then asked if any of them had ever done something illegal and gotten away with it. Again every hand went up and they all knew that they had gotten away with so much. I asked if they had felt the same sense of injustice or unfairness when they got away with these things. They just laughed. No way! We only want fairness when it is to our benefit and even when we are falsely accused their is so much that we could be accused of. I went on to talk about how Jesus was falsely accused and had never gotten away with anything because he had never done anything wrong.

In the story, I told in detail the brutality and cruelty of what happened to Jesus. I wanted these men, who understand brutality and cruelty, to be angry at the unfairness of what happened to Christ. As I storied through the beatings and the crucifixion of Christ, I could see the guys shaking their heads and clenching their teeth at the unfairness and injustice of the cross. After the lesson, we met with the guys one on one and talk through the story. It was so encouraging to hear the message of the cross sinking in. Many of these men were hearing the story told this way for the first time and were beginning to understand that Jesus did all of this willingly and for us. That he was put on that cross for their sin so that they could have a relationship with God. Continue to pray for these guys as they struggle to overcome their addictions through the power of God and that they would have a real relationship with the God of the universe through His one and only Son!