Good morning. I greet you in the precious name of our Lord and of our Savior Jesus Christ. I have some sympathy for your situation. I myself have been locked up in a few prisons already. No. And I'm glad to see you've got some mattresses and some pillows here. When I was locked up in Lusaka Central Prison, we had no blankets, no mattresses, no pillows, there was not even plumbing. And while a prison is never nice, obviously, just to let you know that our prison is much, much, much worse. When I was locked up in Mashava security prison in Maputo in Mozambique, I could touch the top wall with my head, the bottom wall, the other wall with my feet, and each hand could reach a wall. So, literally, one cell, you could touch each of the walls simultaneously. That's how small it was. And I woke up to a rat trying to nibble on me. Could smell the rat first, then open my eyes and there's this rat about to take a bit of a bite and nibble on me. And you may wonder what was I doing in prison there? I was a missionary and it was when the communists were persecuting the church and missionaries were illegal. So I was locked up in Mozambique and in Zambia for missionary work back in the 1980s. And there was a lot of hostility to Christianity at that stage. Now Kenneth Gounda, he said he could not accept the religion of his parents. His parents were reformed Christians and they believed in the depravity of man, the sinfulness of man. Sir Cohen just said he believes in the goodness of man. He was a humanist, not a Christian. And interestingly, the prison I was locked up in, Lusaka Central Prison, had been built by the British for 80 people. The British built Lusaka Central Prison to accommodate 80 people, 8-0. And they put Kenneth Kounda in Lusaka Central Prison at one time. He was there for six or eight months. And he had a cell to himself with a bed with sheets and pillows and blankets. He had a bed with pillows and sheets. He had a gramophone, he had a desk, he had a chair, he had a bookshelf. The British brought three cooked meals into his cell every day. But Kenneth Kounda believed in the goodness of man. So when I was there, he had 2,000 people locked up in this prison that the British built for 80 people, 80. There was no plumbing, no electricity in the whole prison. No electricity and no plumbing. I'm being polite. When you say no plumbing, that means there were no toilets, there was no water running, no sanitation. There were certainly no showers. Nothing like that. Everything was brought in in buckets. Water was carried in buckets. Filth was carried out in buckets. There was no sanitation, no running water, no plumbing. Because Kenneth Kounda believed in the goodness of man. He made secular humanism the religion of Zambia. Humanism. Humanism, that's the name. Everything is about man. That was the name. Humanism, that was their new religion. Most of the prisoners were remanded. They were not convicts, they were still remanded. They didn't have their prison uniforms yet. They were still wearing what was left of their civilian clothes. More than half of the 2,000 in that prison had not yet had one day in court. They had not had their day in court. They hadn't been tried yet. So they called them remand. They were not convicts, they were remand prisoners. Some had been there as long as eight years, still waiting for their time in court. Can you imagine? I was privileged. I was a presidential detainee. We were in a presidential detainee cell, cell 11. In cell 11, only detainees by order of the president were detained. So we were kept slightly separate from the normal prisoners. We had only 11 people in our cell. The cells were 25 feet by 15 feet. By 15 feet by 25 feet. And imagine, no plumbing, no electricity, and the people in the cell, they were there because they'd offended the government. We were detained at the pleasure of the present. We had no charge yet. None of us had been charged. In our cell was also a major from the Zambian army. and he had said he thinks sanctions will hurt Zambia more than Sarathko, so for that disloyal comment he was thrown in prison. There was a South African truck driver, Isaiah Moyo. He was only in his twenties. He had lent money to some ANC exiles in Lusaka and they didn't want to pay him back so they said he's a spy. You did not need proof on an accusation like that. That was enough to have him detained without trial. He had over 20 pussy sores in his body. For interrogation they put an iron poke in the fire and then put it into his body so he had these pussy sores that would swell up and then burst. They'd taken red-hot iron, put it in the fire, and they put it into his body. So he had these sores that would puff up, burst, and it was... Agony you can see, the man was in pain. His knees were very callous because he spent so much time on the concrete floor praying. Now as we were put into the cell, the sun was setting and the warden said, these are terrorists, the mother of terrorists, responsible for the deaths of millions. Now, they knew that we were Mony Mishlies, but they were basically saying, do what you want to them. So I started to preach the gospel. Now, I did not have a Bible. They had taken our Bibles away from us. Didn't even have shoes on. They'd even taken our shoes. We had no shoes. So I started to preach the word of God from what I could remember because there's no book in my hand. I discovered there were many other Christians in that cell. There was an Indian businessman whose minds were coveted by the government, so he is detained. There's a man who is a trader from Mali, and he was also there, literally from Timbuktu. He had been thrown in because they wanted his things, so they stole his things and threw him into prison. Some of the people in the prison became good friends later, they became the next government of Zambia. I didn't meet him, but a president, Frederick Zuluba, who later became president of Zambia, he was in the same cell, I mean same prison, same time as me, different cell. General Godfrey Mianda was in the same cell. He was later the Vice President of Zambia and the Minister of Education. Of course, at the time, I did not know I was sharing a cell with people who would later be ministers in the next government. You don't know who you are next to. But in the prison we had the chance to proclaim the gospel and have good worship services every day. But when I started to speak, they would often open the gates and come and grab me and take me off for interrogation. And the special branch in Zambia, they would do the interrogations and that meant waterboarding. Head in buckets of water until you suffocate and pass out. But I'm being polite. It would have been nice if it was just water we were drowned in. I'm being polite. It would have been nice if they only used water. They were actually thrusting my head into buckets of filth and urine. And so I passed out. lost consciousness. Interesting, since then I've been back to Zambia as a guest of the government and spoken in the prison and spoken in the police cells even to the very people who had interrogated us. The wheel does turn. The wheel does turn. And in Africa, yesterday's prisoner can become the next year's prisoner. But I'm mentioning this just to show that we do understand something about prisons. And there's a lot of prisons out there much worse than what you're in. In fact, in the Bible you see the Apostle Peter, he was locked up in prison. The Apostle Paul knew about prisons. He knew about being stoned to death as well. And when Paul and Silas were locked up in a prison in Philippi, what were they doing? They were singing praises to God. You can read about it in the book of Acts. While they were singing, an earthquake shook the prison. All the gates opened. Even the chains around the ankles fell off. Now the prison warden knew that if his prisoners escaped, he could forfeit his life. They might execute him for letting his prisoners escape. As the Philippian jailor pulled out a sword to kill himself, Paul shouted out, don't do it, we are all here. Imagine, the doors had opened, the chains had fell off, Paul could have escaped but he chose to stay. And the warden fell down on his knees before Paul and said, what must I do to be saved? The Apostle Paul responded, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be baptized, every one of you. And that night, the jailer and his family were all baptized in the name of Jesus. And it was arranged later that Paul was set free. In the book of Philemon, we read a letter that Paul wrote to a friend of his about an escaped slave who had stolen from Philemon. The slave's name was Anesimus. And Paul pleaded with his friend Onesimus, receive him back not as a slave, but as a brother beloved. And you can see in the book of Philemon a prison epistle written while Paul was locked up in Philippi asking for this man to be set free. It's a story about a runaway slave who was a thief who was converted to Christ and returned to his slave master to do restitution willing to be a slave for life but he was set free and he became the bishop of In the Book of Philemon is a charter, like a Magna Carta, a charter for liberty because it undercuts slavery. The book of Philemon. Rashi, let the slaves go free. Forgive the man his crimes. Not by revolution, but by regeneration and redemption. And this inspired people like William Wilberforce to spend his whole life fighting slavery to set the captives free. This book inspired great leaders like William Wilberforce to fight in Parliament to release all slaves. In fact, if you read in the book of Acts, the early church spent a lot of time in jail and a lot of time in prison. People are not always open to the good news of the gospel. Many people who seek to advance the gospel will find that they're behind bars because society is not always friendly to the message of Christ. Society is not always friendly to the message of Christ. Many of God's servants end up behind bars. Jesus came to set the captives free. There are people who are in prison even for horrible crimes, who are set free by the blood of Christ. I hope one day you can hear from our Chairman of the Board, Anthony Stunder. I hope one day you can hear from our chairman of the board of our mission. His name is Anthony Stunder. Anthony Stunder, he was a soldier who fought for the paratroopers elite unit in Angola during the war there. After the war, he became an armed robber and a bank robber. He did horrible things. He got sentenced to life in prison and 30 years in prison. He was in the worst prison in South Africa, Sundervata. But in this horrible condition, he was converted to Christ. He was physically a prisoner but he was spiritually set free. He was only one of two Christians in a prison of hundreds of people at that time. And by God's grace, it's an incredible story, but he was ultimately set free after some years. He has now been serving Christ as a pastor for 35 years. But he could speak far better than me. Because he knows what it is to be a condemned prisoner with a life sentence in a maximum security prison. And we're going to try and organize that he can visit at some stage. we will try to arrange that he could visit sometime. But let me say this, Jesus came to set the captives free. Jesus came to heal the broken hearted. Jesus knows what it is to be tempted as we are, yet was without sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ knew what it was to be illegally tried and to be unjustly condemned. False witnesses spread lies about him. And yet on the cross Jesus could say, Father forgive them for they do not know what they do. Do you know the first person to be converted as Jesus died on the cross was a thief next to him. There were two criminals on each side of Jesus when he was crucified. One mocked him. One of them rejected Christ and rebelled against Him. And the other prisoner felt bad about this and he said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, this day you will be with me in paradise. You know, ultimately, it does not matter what I think. It doesn't matter what they think. It doesn't matter what you think. The main thing that matters is what does God think. What does God say in His word, the Bible? On the day of judgment, the ultimate day of judgment, only one opinion, only one vote will matter. What God Almighty, the Eternal Judge, what He says on that day, that is what will matter for eternity. What God says is what matters for eternity, not what we think or say. On that day, every one of us will have to give an account of our lives to God. The scripture says we will have to give an account for every idle word we've ever spoken. That God will judge even the thoughts of our hearts. God knows and God understands better than any person. On that day, you will want Jesus Christ to be your advocate. Jesus said, whoever confesses me before men, I will confess him before my father and before the holy angels. If you deny me before men, I will deny you before my father. On the day of judgment, Jesus says, whatever you did unto one of the least of these, my brethren, will be done unto you. Whatever you do unto one of the least of these, you did unto me. In Matthew 25, when Jesus describes the Day of Judgment, He is not saying to people, you did drugs, you stole. That's not the way it's described in Matthew 25. The Day of Judgment, the Lord describes in these words. The Lord Jesus describes the Day of Judgment in these words. Not so much the bad things we did, but the good things we failed to do. On the Day of Judgment, Jesus says He will say to people, you did not give water to the thirsty. You did not give food to the hungry. You did not care for those who were sick. You did not visit the people in prison. Depart from me, you cursed, into the lake of fire prepared for the And the people say, but master, when did we see you hungry and not feed you? When did we see you thirsty and not give you drink? When were you sick? or in prison and we did not visit you. And the Lord Jesus says, I tell you, whenever you did not do this to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did not do it to me. And then he'll say to those on his right, You gave me drink when I was thirsty. You gave me food when I was hungry. You gave me clothes when I was naked. You visited me when I was sick. You visited me in prison. Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord. Lord, when did we feed you or give you drink? When did we give you clothes? When did we visit you? And Jesus will say, I tell you the truth, whatever you did to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. Now, bad things we've done are serious. The bad things we've done are serious. But Jesus describes the Day of Judgment in terms of good things we failed to do. good things we fail to do. To know the good that you should do and not to do it, that is sin. Jesus says it will be better on the day of judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah than for Capernaum. How can it be? Solomon and Gomorrah were evil, terrible cities. But Solomon and Gomorrah did not have the Bible. Nor did Jesus walk their streets. But in Capernaum they had the Word of God. And the Son of God walked their streets and did miracles and healed the sick amongst them. And the apostles worked good deeds amongst them. We are judged according to the light that we have received. We are judged according to the light that we have received. Too much is given, much is required. Too much is given, much is required. Too much more is given, much more is required. We are judged according to the light we've received. We are saved to serve. God forgives us that we may forgive others. God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others. We are not to be buckets, we are to be hosepuffs, we are to be channels of God's blessings. Not to be a bucket, just to receive God's blessings, but to be a channel, like a hosepipe, to share God's blessings. You are saved to serve. You are blessed in order to be a blessing. We are set free to serve Christ. The main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing. Your highest priority is to love God, to fear God, to serve God, to honor Him. We are to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And then He teaches us how to love our neighbor as ourself. To do to others as we deserve, as we want them to do to us. What can you do while you are in prison? You can catch up on your prayer life and your Bible study. If you can study the Word of God, you will Be free inside and then you can be a blessing when you leave. There is much you can do while you are in prison. There is power in praying. God is not inside. And I know people today who are the government of Zambia who were once prisoners in the circus. Praise God that Paul and Peter did not give up and stop because they got locked up. May I ask, is there anyone here who does not have a Bible? Can I just see your hands, who do not have a Bible? So most of you do not have a Bible? Can I ask now, who would prefer a Bible in English? And then, how many would prefer a Bible in Siswati? Please raise hands. That helps me to know. Thank you. We're going to try and organize more Bibles to get to your chaplains to ensure that you get Bibles in the cell. Thank you. It is a privilege to serve Christ and I know that it is terrible to be in a prison. You want to be free. But the first thing is to be free before God. Jesus came to set the captives free. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. Often what we need first is to be free from the sins in our own life. My friend Anthony says, It was in prison he learned to be free from the sins that bound him. And only once he had learned what God wanted him to learn, did God set him free from the prison, and then he could be a blessing to others all over outside. I know that you need Bibles. Obviously, the only Bible I've got. We will do our best to see that you do get Bibles. But then it is for you to study the Word of God. We will also see we've got, we have quantities in Saswati right now of gospel booklets. 50 pages all scripture. That you will get first. And these are gospel booklets. It's all scripture inside. Little booklets you can put in your pocket. But once you start with that, we hope by the time you finish that you'll get your Bibles and your Testaments. Reading is the magic key to take you where you want to be. Readers can make leaders. A reader can be a leader. We need to be able to know the Word of God. I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. The Word of God is like a lamp to our feet and a light to our It is milk and meat to our soul. The Word of God sets us free. The Word of God is like a hammer that breaks the rocks and pieces. And it can shatter the spear and sword and break the chains. can break the chains. We all need to reclaim our surrendered ground, the ground we've given to Satan we must take back through the blood of Jesus Christ. We need to put on the full armor of God every day, the helmet of salvation, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, It's not our righteousness, it's the righteousness of Christ alone. The righteousness does not come from us, it is Christ's righteousness. The shield of faith. The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The feet ready to share the Gospel of Christ. We need to put on the whole arm of God. We need to put on the whole armor of God. And we need to stand fast on the rock-solid Word of God. Jesus said there's two kinds of people. They're the wise and the foolish. The wise man builds his house on the rock of God's word. The foolish man builds his house on the sand. And one day, the rain falls. The wind blows. The storm rages. The flood rises. And the house that's built on the sand will collapse. But the life that's built on the Word of God will stand firm. I like this person a lot. There are two ways. The broad way. It's popular, it's smooth, it's downhill. It's downhill, many people on it, it's easy. But the broad road leads to destruction. And then there's a narrow road. It's steep. It's difficult. It's lonely. It's stony. It's rocky. But it leads to paradise. There are two kinds of trees. There's a good tree and there's a bad tree. You know the tree by the fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. That is the fruit of the Spirit. But the fruit of the flesh, adultery, fornication, perversion, outbursts of wrath, anger, we know the fruit of the flesh. We need to repent of our sins and we need to put all our faith in Jesus Christ alone. He offers us salvation not because of any good things we have done. Salvation comes by grace alone, the grace of God alone. Undeserved favor. Mercy. That is what we need. We need mercy from God. Jesus lived the perfect life you and I should have lived. He died the death we deserve to die. The just in the place of the unjust. His blood can make the foulest clean. His blood can make the foulest clean. He breaks the power of cancelled sin. He sets the captive free. We need to put our faith in Jesus Christ alone. If you have not surrendered to Christ before, let's do it now. Let's have a time of prayer and let's commit ourselves to the Lord. If you have not given your life to Christ before, surrender to Christ today. If you have already, recommit yourself to the Lord. We give God everything in our life that is broken and battered and shameful and He gives us His love and mercy and grace. And God not only can forgive our sins, He adopts us into His family as His sons, His daughters, His servants, His soldiers. As we go to prayer, can I ask, who wants to surrender the life to Jesus Christ. God bless each one of you. Let us pray. Lord God we thank and praise you for your love and for your mercy. Thank you for dying on the cross for my son. I'm sorry for my son. Please forgive me. Help me to love and obey You as my Lord and Savior. May You have mercy upon us, Lord God. Lord, cleanse us, wash us, regenerate us, redeem us, make us the people You want us to be. Set us free, we pray, Lord God. Use us, we pray. Make us more brave and bold for you. Make us more faithful to your word, the Bible. Make us effective in your service. We love you and want to obey you, Lord. Amen. He who believes has eternal life. May God bless and strengthen each one of you. Thank you.