This past Sunday night, accompanied by my wife, a good Christian brother and I traveled to Straits Correctional Facility to baptize some prisoners. Why? Well, it is biblical, no?
When a prisoner becomes a Christian, he isn't just allowed to go get baptized right away. There's a process. You just can't run the Ethiopian eunuch down to the water and baptize him as Philip did. At this particular prison, baptisms are typically done annually. What happens is the chaplain borrows a portable baptismal from another local prison and it is set up in their "gym", since there's a concrete floor there that can withstand the water that will be splashed/dripped.
Some question why we baptize them. Because Scripture commands believers to be baptized. "But isn't there a lot of 'jailhouse religion'?" Yes, but so what? With any baptism you're placing trust that the profession is genuine. Many who are baptized outside prisons have a form of jailhouse religion as well, as we can all see from the state of the evangelical church.
What a blessing it was. Approximately 20 men were baptized. I couldn't stop smiling the whole time. Some will come back to the weekly bible study we have there. Some won't. All need prayer. As we all do.
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