BEHIND COLD STEEL BARS

I can still vividly remember when I was about 17 years old, I was often involved in a gang war, because I was then a very delinquent, crooked and rebellious youth. No day in my life before that I was not involved in any trouble or mess. The last gang war that I was involved in was the worse that I went to Nueva Ecija to hide because I know I will be put into jail. Policemen were really hunting for me. After a few years of cooling off, I went back to Santiago City and joined my cousin Micky, Ptr. Danny, the Mangadap brothers, Daniel Benjamin, John Thomas and Dan Andrew and Micko, son of Bro. Henry, in learning Aikido. It was then that Ptr. Danny shared to me the Word of God and I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour. From then on, my life was changed. I have that hunger for the Word of God and holy fear came into my heart not to sin or do things against the will of God.

I then regularly attend the Sunday services at Cornerstone Church with the Mangadap brothers and later on, I was able to usher my mother and sisters at Cornerstone Church also. My hunger for the Word of God became so intense and passionate that I had that desire to study at Sefton Bible Training Center. I thanked the Lord for touching the heart of Pastor Mark Ritchie for sponsoring my studies at the Bible School. Right after graduating from the SBTC, I became so active in Cornerstone Church as Associate Pastor at Cornerstone Church Naggasican and at the same assisting Bro. Mel Bareng in the Jail (BJMP) Ministry. When Bro. Mel and his family finally settled in Australia last 2009, the BJMP Ministry was turned over to me by our Senior Pastor, Rev. Mark Ritchie. Since then, BJMP has been part of my life and it is a great honor and privilege for me to minister to the prisoners. It is a great joy to see the prisoners being saved and spiritually free behind cold steel bars.

The BJMP or Bureau of Jail Management and Penology is located at Batal, one of the villages of Santiago City, being passed by when you go to Naggasican village. It is about two (2) kilometers away from Sefton Village.

When I came to know the Lord, six of my gang friends were put into jail with different cases. As I write this post, two are still at BJMP. I am so thankful that I have known our Lord Jesus Christ and I was seized by our Lord from darkness. If not, I would be one of those lingering behind cold steel bars of the BJMP. God is so good!

At present, BJMP has 300 prisoners with different cases like drug pushers, drug users, murderers, thieves, rapists, members of the New People’s Army ( Communist group), gun ban violators and other criminal offenses. If many are really crime offenders, there are also some who are innocent but cannot get out of jail because of the very slow progress of their cases. Justice in the Philippines is so slow and sluggish. There are also some prisoners who are not visited by their families and relatives because they are not aware that they are in prison and most often, these prisoners are the ones that are demoralize and dampen.

Cornerstone Church has a regular activity and service at BJMP every Saturday morning. Now, the prisoners themselves are in charge of the service program, in leading the opening and closing prayers, praise and worship (they already have a worship band) and even in sharing God’s Word. Many are gifted in teaching and preaching but the problem is they are being adjudged just because they are prisoners. God really is moving so amazingly in their lives!

Whatever offerings or collections we have in the service are being saved and used in buying basic necessities or needs of the prisoners like bath soaps, toothpastes, laundry soaps, shampoos and other important needs like sending text messages or mailing letters to their relatives, medicines of those who are sick, purchase of bibles for distribution to the inmates and others.

I am so blessed because aside from my sister Mildred, we have a new member of the team who is helping us in the Jail Ministry, Ptr. Rodel Hadloc of Urdaneta, Pangasinan. Ptr. Rodel is once a prisoner of the BJMP. He was apprehended before because of possession of unlicensed gun. He was so ashame, afraid, depressed, frightened, terrified (name it all) when he was imprisoned because he is already a Pastor during that time. It was such a long story. Nevertheless, he was already freed and he promised to the Lord that he will help me and Ptr. Danny in our ministry at Naggasican and in the Jail Ministry as well. At present, he was designated by Ptr. Danny to be in-charge of one of the three (3) church planting that we have started at Nabbuan, Arabiat and Sta. Ana, Echague. He was specifically assigned at Sta. Ana, Echague with my brother, Joseph Manio. Praise God that Ptr. Rodel is very energetic and always on the go for the Lord. The first Sunday service was held at Sta. Ana last June 5, 2010.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR OUR JAIL MINISTRY AND

FOR OUR WHOLE TEAM!

GLORY TO GOD!

Posted by:

Ptr. August Manio