“Our world is a vast lazar house, a scene of misery that we dare not allow even our thoughts to dwell upon. Did we realize it as it is, the burden would be too terrible. Yet God feels it all. In order to destroy sin and its results He gave His best Beloved, and He has put it in our power, through cooperation with Him, to bring this scene of misery to an end. ‘This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come (Matthew 24:14)” (Education, p. 264).

Everywhere we go, we see the terrible woes of sin—the casualties of the great controversy. And we don’t just see these woes; we live them every day of our lives.

In our Susu community, the devil has used poverty, Islam and polygamy to enslave his prey. Starving people will do just about anything to survive. The quickest option is to steal or burglarize. Also, radical Islamic teachings encourage dishonesty and thievery. For example, imams teach that a believer is free to lie in three instances—to his wife, to anyone who is not a Muslim, and during a jihad. They also teach that you can steal from nonbelievers in the name of Allah.

In Susu society, the seeds of crime are often allowed to germinate in the young. “They’re just children,” parents say. “They don’t know what they’re doing.” In fact, parents here often use their influence to bend laws and free their children whenever they are in trouble. In turn, children use the influence of their grandparents, community elders and religious leaders to escape their parents’ punishment.

The effects of polygamy are more insidious. In this society, a man has the right to marry more than one wife. Yet the wives bear the responsibility of feeding and caring for the children and sometimes even their husband. Thus, women must make gardens or work side jobs to provide for their children. Many resort to prostitution. Sometimes children must fend for themselves, and they turn to crime. So our prisons are always full.

Three years ago, we started a prison ministry. We even have an agreement with the national prison authority to visit any prison in the country and minister to prisoners. We visit the local prison here in Fria every other Sabbath and take food to the prisoners every other Sunday. During one of our visits, a prisoner said, “We have been taught that Christians are bad, but we have always seen the contrary. We are confused and don’t know what to believe. None of our Muslim leaders has ever come to visit us in prison, but you Christians take time to come and speak to us and give us hope. Something is wrong somewhere.” When you ask most of them, they will tell you how much they have been deceived by their parents and religious elders. They question the credibility of their religion.

On September 9, Brother George and Brother Maurice visited the prison and talked to the prisoners about Christ and the plan of salvation. The inmates were interested. They requested Bibles, and George and Maurice promised to bring them some.

Three weeks later, George and I were walking past the prison on our way back from a parent-teacher meeting at our school, which is located on the same street as the prison. In front of the prison, a group of prisoners and two guards were outside cleaning the front of the prison yard. As we approached, we heard the prisoners arguing among themselves about whether we were the Christians who had promised them Bibles. Then they asked permission from the guards to talk to us.

“Pastor!” their spokesman called out, “Please give us five minutes of your time. First of all, we want to thank you very much for the good food you bring us every other Sunday and for the encouragement we get from your visit and your prayers. But there is one thing you are forgetting.
“What is it?” Brother George interrupted, pretending to have forgotten about their request.

“Bibles!” the man exclaimed. “Our Bibles, remember? The food is good, but the Bible is better. In here, we have time to read, and we want to be reading ahead so we can ask questions whenever you come to visit. Some of us have been taught that the Bible has been changed and corrupted. Personally, I have never touched one because I was told they were cursed. Now I want to find out what our teachers were hiding from us.”

“I have been waiting to see how serious you are about studying the Bible,” Brother George replied. We had a box of Bibles available, and we were happy to deliver them to the eager prisoners.

God works in mysterious ways. I am pretty confident that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are still in the life-saving business. In the darkest dungeons they seek their love ones; in the most hopeless situations they pour out hope.

• Twitter