Francisco – Desperate to hear of God’s love.

A recent testimony of a man we will call Francisco. He was locked down on the third floor of the toughest maximum-security prison in El Salvador called Zacatraz (named after Alcatraz). Convicted of war crimes from the civil war, he had participated in a village massacre as a member of the armed forces. We don’t fully know the circumstances of his crime, but his conviction had left him hopeless and in despair. His life appeared over.

At that time, Mario, one of our chaplains, was holding weekly Bible studies with inmates through the glass on the first floor of Zacatraz. Francisco was in isolation and not free to receive visitors, so he laid on the cement floor of his cell, pressing his ear to a hole in order to hear the Chaplain’s words.

Mario shared the story of Christ and His words of hope. He spoke how the gospel has the power to forgive and to heal and to make any one who believed right with God. One day, after listening to the Gospel, Francisco gave his life to Christ on the floor of his cell.

Mario did not hear Francisco’s testimony until five years later. Having been transferred to a minimum-security prison, Francisco attended a service led by Mario. Francisco shared his testimony and they rejoiced together.

So far, this year in the International Ministry alone, we have reports of over 60,000 decisions for Christ. We thank the Lord for this fruit. After hearing Francisco’s story, I wonder how many more seeds of the Gospel have been planted and how many more lives have been changed because of our 330 International Chaplain’s faithful acts of service around the world!