Matthew 25:21
His Lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.
It was over 50 years ago now that a middle-aged woman with a young family attended what would become a life changing breakfast. There would be a guest speaker there talking about the ministry he was involved with-in prisons! Over 50 years ago conditions were much different, the stigma of being in prison was a great deterrent to involvement on any level, never mind the depth of involvement this man talked about! His name is long forgotten, but the impact his talk made on this woman turned her world upside down.
As a believer she had been asking the Lord what He still wanted her to do. That day He told her…go into the prison! She balked, she begged, she pleaded for a different assignment as she had no knowledge of this area of ministry. She asked the Lord, “what can I do?” He simply said, ‘take them candy and love them.”
It seemed to be a simple request but getting through all the ‘red tape’ to be able to actually do it, was another story. When it was all said and done, she was able to get into the Lackawanna County Prison and served both men and women throughout the year, from that time forward.
In spring, for Easter, each man received a bag of carefully scrutinized (by the prison) candy. Women each received hygiene items-and some candy!
For July celebrations, she made sure that every prisoner had a special treat-prison approved, of course.
Christmas time was the favorite of the prisoners-both men and women. Homemade cookies were allowed to be packaged and given out to each and every prisoner! Given the number of prisoners in LCP, this was a monumental task! They also each received new socks. It gets cold on your feet there in winter.
Anna was welcomed into the prison because she made a difference in the lives of the people there. She went twice a week to chat and pray with the people there. When they were released, she continued her care providing clothing and other necessities, sometimes even temporary housing.
You may wonder how she was able to accomplish this task. Often it was through word of mouth, I learned of her from a friend, she heard in her church. The Lord has His own ways of making people aware of His goals and motivating them to help. Some gave money, some gave goods, it was always just enough!
Over the years she received many calls on holidays from former prisoners. They just called to say thank you-for the candy and your love! They always knew there was someone who loved them-Jesus and Anna!
Recently the Lord made a reservation for ‘One’ at His banquet table and He invited her to go. Anna Young replied YES to her reserved invitation in Heaven. She now sits at that table-free! Free from the aches and pains of her 92-year-old body, free from the hassles in this world, but mostly, free from her own debt of sin that was paid when she accepted Jesus in her heart so long ago! She never regretted it and never turned away from her calling to the prison population.
While Anna was not perfect, she was a very good example to all of us what a life sold out to Jesus looks like. She was an inspiration to me. She motivated me to go into LCP and teach a Bible study. Then later I would become pen-pals with several prisoners over the years. The work is tiring and time consuming, but anyone who has done any work ‘with the least of these’ is reminded just how close any one of us really are to being ‘one of them’.
Ms. Anna Young is a local hero in my book. While many in this ministry come-and go, she stayed on the task, finished the course, and I would dare to say, she heard the words we all long to hear; ‘well done good and faithful servant-enter into your rest’!
PLEASE remember prisoners this year with a letter, a card, a donation to any one of many prison ministries. Here is a local one, Tom Dugan LCP Chaplain, Jubilee Ministries, 235 South 12th St, Lebanon, PA 17042
Jubilee Ministries is Tom’s support system.
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