When I (Jon) first started going into Palmasola, I usually went in alone, because we didn't really know anyone else who visited the prison consistently and one of us had to stay behind to care for our kids. I was freaked out, didn't really speak much Spanish, and felt really unequipped (exactly the way God wanted me to be to show His glory). Since I had no experience with prison ministry, I tried to just do what Jesus did: talk a bit about the Kingdom of God with scripture, pray for sick, pray for demonized, and give food or clothes to the needy.
Well, over the last three and a half years I have started doing other things. I talk with people about theology, teach a little to small groups, guide inner-healing prayer, evangelize, and try to give counsel to addicts. Not that these things are bad, but I have deviated from that original simple ministry.
About a year ago, I went to a different part of the prison where the new inmates go and stay if they don't have enough money to pay to go to the "nicer" part of the prison. I was looking for a young man who is a friend of our sweet friend Lily who loves on young people who are addicted to drugs and live in the street. I found Fernando. His ankle was swollen, bruised, and broken. He told me that he had already been using crutches for a couple of months as he had been run over by a car in the street. I asked him if he believed in God or prayed and he told me that he sometimes prays, but didn't really know what it was to have a relationship with God. So, I told him that God loves him and wants to take care of him and that He wanted to heal him. I got down on one knee and prayed for and touched his ankle. When I finished I asked him if he felt anything. He said he felt peace, but his ankle had not improved.
Fast forward ten months...I am visiting our friends in a different part of the prison and as usual I ask one of them to pick a little spot where I can buy them lunch so that they have a decent meal at least once a week. My friend Alfredo was choosing and after praying for a moment thought of a place way in the back of this part of the prison. We cross the soccer field and I hear someone call out my name. I look up and a guy sitting on the bleachers is greeting me. I kind of recognized him so I waved. He calls out again and then comes bounding down the bleachers. He tells me that he's Fernando, but doesn't have his crutches anymore. I was stunned! I ask him how his ankle got better and he tells me that it just healed on its own. Then I ask my friend Miguel who was inside this same prison for almost 15 years if that ever happens in Palmasola. He says "NEVER" and that they amputate, because they don't have the resources to save something so severely injured. His ankle looks exactly like the other one, completely normal.
I tell him that an ankle does not heal from that severe of an injury on its own; it's not possible. God healed his ankle. I ask him if he had prayed or thanked God and he says "No." So, we stop to praise God and give Him all of the glory for healing this young man. As we walk away from this miracle, I am able to encourage my friend Alfredo that God used him to lead us to Fernando, because we would have never found him if he had not prayed and listened to God.