The trip’s main purpose was to visit the
Message believers in the Tucuman Jail.
Brother Vazquez, who does the prison missionary work, warmly welcomed Brother
Eladio (VGR Assistant Distributor in Argentina) into his home. The first thing
they did was to coordinate the visit to the jail for that afternoon.
The brothers, along with Brother Juan, a former prisoner that had just been
released a few days before, crossed the big metallic gates of the jail. They
identified themselves with the authorities and then passed through inspections.
Finally, they went directly to a place where about 20 inmates were anxiously
waiting for the visit of the brothers.
During that afternoon Brother Eladio was with the believers, who presented
him some things that they themselves had prepared for the occasion: drinks,
bread, and cookies in the prison’s bakery. The eyes of these prisoners were
filled with tears as they heard of the efforts made by VGR to take the Message
to all the world. They were especially happy to know that God has children in
other jails in the world and to know that they also have been blessed to receive
the Word of God for this age.
The meeting lasted for two hours. Brother Eladio told them about the prison
work in the States and that there is a special department at VGR in charge of
that work. He told them about the people who are condemned to death have found a
new hope when reading the little tract Beyond the Curtain Of Time. They
put all their faith in these Words that God spoke and showed the prophet of this
age. He showed the Promise of what really is waiting for anyone that trusts in
this Promise by faith.
The brothers sang some songs and praised the Lord outdoors, under the shade
of the trees on the jail’s patio. The Lord gave us a beautiful day and the
sadness of being there went away.
Some time ago, Brother Vazquez had enquired about the possibility of having a
building inside the prison for the services. In the beginning this seemed
impossible, but the good behavior of the believers called the attention of the
warden and gave them a place for this. Later, some denominational groups learned
about the advance of the prison work and took a hold of the building. When
Brother Vazquez went to the jail once again, the brothers were waiting for him
to take the building by force. Brother Vazquez told them not to do it and urged
them to leave in peace and have the service in the patio, “with Christ in our
hearts and let them fight for the building.” He told them that the real temple
of God is in our hearts, and they cannot take that place. “We will maintain our
souls surrendered to Christ and will devote our time to read the messages and
our Bibles, pray and testify to the other inmates about our hope of glory.” The
believers could see the difference and were happy with this teaching. Many times
the believers notice what a great change is happening in their lives and
character as they do not participate in the dirty things as they did in the
past.
They work now doing evangelism work inside those walls. This place is no
longer a prison to them. It is their home. Even they testify that they love the
place where God found and called them to a life of sanctity and full of
blessings. They also state that in the case of being freed from jail, they would
use their time to testify to their families and mend their past mistakes,
displaying the change that the Lord has done in them.