August 19, 2002

INMATES in a Honduran prison listen attentively to missionar Amy Johnson's stories of redemption. Using a flannel board for the semi-literate, she turns darkened cellblocks into classrooms for teaching principles of faith six days a week. (Baptist Press Photo)

IMB missionary in Honduras
goes where angels fear to tread
___By Chris Turner
___International Mission Board
___FRANCISCO MORAZAN, Honduras (BP)--An exposed bulb dangles from the ceiling by a black wire and throws its harsh light around the cramped cinder-block room. Tattooed bodies crowd the space or stare in past the heavy steel door. This cell's location is deep within the bowels of a Honduran prison. All the young men present are gang members, and most are killers or rapists--or both.
___At the center of this sea of inked flesh sits Amy Johnson, a perfectly postured, fair-skinned redhead. Her soft voice forces the prisoners to lean in to hear her. Her sincere smile melts their calloused hearts, and her deep-penetrating brown eyes reach beyond their hardened exteriors to their souls. They call her Mamita, "Little Mom."
___"She makes us feel like we are not forgotten," said Danny Boy, a prisoner and the leader of one gang. (Most gang members use nicknames.) "People treat us like animals, but not her. She listens to us, and we respect her a lot."
___Johnson, 47, an International Mission Board missionary, always teaches gang members Bible stories in the six prisons she visits throughout the week. But it's not the Scripture she teaches that is the basis for her ministry. It's the Scripture she lives. She introduces gang members to Jesus and helps them get to know him better.
___"It's not telling a person they have value; it's showing them," she said. "You can't tell a person Jesus loves them but never do anything for them. You have to show them what the love of Christ looks like."
___On Sunday, Johnson passes through the security gate and starts up the covered walkway to a women's prison. At first sighting, women ages 16 to 19 mob her. All are gang members.
___Johnson compliments their hair, asks how their week has been and asks about their families. She then gently places a small teddy bear in her basket. She'll deliver it tomorrow to one girl's boyfriend who is serving time in another prison.
___The small band pulls Johnson toward the meeting room like young children excitedly pulling their mother to see a picture they've just colored. Everyone wants to touch her. Johnson sets up her flannel board and removes her big Bible from her small backpack. Chairs are gathered. Today's lesson is from Acts: Ananias and Sapphira. The lesson on deception and theft hits close to home.
___The lesson ends, and one by one the girls ask to meet privately with her. Johnson never knows what situations will arise, but she always prepares herself through prayer, asking God for wisdom in what she says. Today she needs it.
___"I have AIDS," says one teenager standing before her, head lowered in shame and despair. Her life is over. The gang might take it, or the disease, or she might take her own life. Both cry; Johnson embraces her. Johnson knows unconditional love is the girl's only hope.
___On Monday, Johnson visits the national prison, where one tattooed body after another streams out of the cellblock as Johnson strolls past a huge portrait of the Virgin Mary standing vigilant at the entrance.
___Facial tattoos are common, and Johnson long ago overcame the shock of seeing the large, blocked "666" that stretches from one temple to the other of some of the inmates. Nearly all of these guys are in their late teens or early 20s. Most boldly admit they doubt they'll ever see 30.

MISSIONARY Amy Johnson brings light and levity into the dark, dire prisons of Honduras. Her example breaks the barriers that separate young inmates from the gospel. She frequently works with gang members who have no hope for the future. As she teaches them from the Bible, she leads them to see hope for a new life through faith in Jesus Christ. (Baptist Press Photo)

___Johnson settles into one of the cells and reads a letter from the girlfriend of one of the gang members. Those gathered lean in to listen. There is something awkward about someone so hardened struggling with the love issues that plague almost every adolescent in suburban America. He seeks motherly advice from Johnson. His own mother won't come to see him.
___"So many of their families either won't come see them or can't get here to see them," Johnson said. "Some of their parents won't pay the fines to get them out because they'd rather have them alive in prison than dead on the streets."
___"A lot of what I do is just listen," she explained. "They just want someone to take an interest in them."
___The next day, it's off to a juvenile prison, where a 15-year-old boy with bandaged arms can't wait to see Johnson. He rushes to meet her and, at first opportunity, pulls her to the side. He whispers something; Johnson smiles and pulls him close in a hug. He professed faith in Christ as his Savior two nights ago.
___His journey to the cross wasn't easy. The bandages are reminders of when a rival gang captured him and tried to burn his gang's tattoos from his arms. He's lucky to be alive. He's even luckier to be in jail. Jail provided the chance for him to hear about Jesus.
___When Johnson finishes today's Bible story--Noah's Ark--a few inmates gather around her. The new believer has brought several friends to Johnson. She gives them each a short lesson plan, and they work through the blanks. One boy asks for a Bible.
___They tell her they've formed a new gang--a Bible study gang. The boy with the bandages is the leader.
___On Wednesday, Johnson steps through a cage into a three-ring circus at Comayagua prison, where salsa music blares from an assortment of speakers as a man shouts to be heard above the noise. He's selling lottery tickets. Another man sitting in a hammock tosses crude comments in the direction of some female guests. Others are begging spare change to possibly buy a cigarette at one of the many concession stands lining the narrow, outdoor passages in the prison's maze. The smell of deep-fried whatever lingers in the air.
___Johnson draws stares as she greets the two muscular young men who are waiting for her. Both were members of a gang. One's nickname was Satan. Now he's got a new name.
___Johnson has a picture of Satan with shaved head, scowling face, a lot of attitude. That was before. Now he smiles constantly. The difference, he said, is Jesus in his heart.
___The week continues, and prisons are revisited. Johnson takes one day to plan for the coming week, and prayer is the foundation on which every day is constructed.
___Tears often splash her lesson plans as she pleads with God on behalf of one gang member after another. There is an urgency in her voice that equals the urgency of their situations. Ten people with whom Johnson has worked were murdered either in prison or when they got out.
___Seeing so many lives wasted is discouraging. Satanic rituals and pacts are common practice.
___For security, Johnson relies on her Bible. She can't say which is her favorite verse but flips through one brightly highlighted page after another in Jeremiah. Through the Weeping Prophet's writing, God promises his presence to Johnson. In return, Johnson gives her life completely to God.
___"I guess I see myself before the Lord as a handmaiden," she said. "I want my life to glorify him."

___ Due to security concerns, the missionary's name has been changed for this story.
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