We caught up with prisons worker Gigi to hear how she’s seeing God move in one man she’s been working with in prison.
‘I’ve been getting to know Simon* who used to believe in God but walked away from faith after the death of his friend 10 years ago. Chatting to him, he shared with me how he felt let down by God and he’s not wanted to get involved with faith-related activities or conversations since.
‘I have been visiting him on the wing every week just to chat and spend time with him and one week I asked Simon, “In an ideal world, what kind of sign from God would you like?” He shared with me that he’d simply like an encounter of God’s presence or some sort of answered prayer and he asked what he should do about it. I encouraged him to try praying again, if he felt comfortable. After chatting about it for a few weeks, he said he would try!
‘Lots of people have been praying that Simon would come back to faith and have that encounter with God. I visited him this week, and he came running up to me, beaming, telling me he had “had words with the man upstairs” and couldn’t believe what had happened!
‘Simon’s favourite prison officer’s cat had cancer, and the officer was upset about having to put the cat down that day. Simon, being a cat lover and having chatted with his officer, prayed that night, saying, “Okay, if you can hear this prayer, God, could you heal this officer’s cat for me?”
‘The next morning, the officer came in back from the vet, and the cat had made a miraculous recovery overnight, meaning they didn’t have to put it down! Simon was stunned. Not knowing what to do with this answer to prayer, he told me “Gigi, this is all your fault. I don’t know what to do! The prayer’s actually been answered so I don’t know what to think anymore!”
‘I laughed and encouraged him to get praying some more. “This is God pursuing you Simon, and how beautiful is it that we have a God who cares about our small and innocent prayers?”
‘It’s been amazing to see Simon continue his journey of coming back to God. He’s continuing to pray more and he’s more open in finding out more about faith. Please do be praying for Simon as he explores faith for himself again.’
