Prison Breaks

The island of Alcatraz is over a mile offshore in San Francisco Bay. For years, this rock was also the site of a federal prison. Some tried to escape, but no one is known to have been successful because of swift ocean currents, cold water, and sharks. 

The Bible, however, records miraculous escapes from seemingly impossible conditions. The first one is recorded in Acts 12. King Herod arrested the Apostle Peter and planned to publicly execute him the next day. To ensure Peter’s captivity, that night he was chained to two guards and two sentries stood outside his door. He was awakened from sleep by an angel, his chains fell off, his cell door opened, and Peter was led out of the jail and the entire city. What a commotion ensued in the morning! Herod assumed that the guards were in cahoots with Peter, so he had them executed. 

The second prison break is even more miraculous than the first. Each of us were chained, not to guards nor were we locked up on a rocky island. The chains that held each of us fast were those of sin. The doors to our cells were more securely locked in place than the steel bars of a maximum-security prison. The obstacles to our escape were more impassable than miles of open ocean full of sharks. Freedom was hopeless … or so it seemed.

There has been a miraculous prison break, however. It causes the chains of sin to fall off and the cell doors to open wide. It isn’t the result of a riot among the inmates. Nor is it the result of planning and risk-taking by a prisoner. The only thing powerful enough to break the chains of sin is the blood of Christ shed on the cross. The only key that could unlock our cell doors was the key in the hands of the risen Jesus. 

Your donations have been a constant source of encouragement to our partners to share this Good News. It is a message that has resulted in many of our orphans receiving eternal life in Christ, as well as freedom from a life of begging for their next meal. Thank you.

Marlon Furtado