Two South Sudan pastors who were released from prison said they were able to preach the gospel while they were imprisoned.
According to ChristianToday.com, Pastor Peter Yen and Pastor Michael Yat helped bring some fellow inmates to faith in Jesus Christ.
The two pastors were being held in Sudan. They were imprisoned in December 2014 and January 2015 on six charges, including espionage, promoting hatred among sects, and undermining the constitutional system.
The two men were released summer 2015.
Pastor Michael was arrested in December 2014, and Pastor Peter went to the Religious Affairs office to ask about his arrest. However, security officers then arrested Peter.
"I told them as a pastor it was my duty to preach the gospel wherever I went but that ultimately it was God who changes human beings,” Peter said. “They insisted that the people on the list were still Muslims because their names had not changed, but I explained that Christians are not concerned about names but about the transformation of a person's heart.
They were then moved to Omduran Prison, which has more than 3,000 prisoners, before again being moved back to Kober prison.
"The conditions were very hard here,” Peter said. “This prison was so hot that you could wring sweat out of your shirt. But it was the best place and the happiest phase for me because I was put in the same cell with condemned persons and had opportunity to preach to all.”
"It gave me the opportunity to share about heaven and about Christ,” he added. “They were shocked and wanted to know more. Whenever the prison officers realised that we were preaching to fellow inmates, they would take us to other cells. We did not mind this because in this way we got access to almost all the condemned persons! God surely has His ways of doing things, even using those who think they are punishing you."
Publication date: June 17, 2016
