DIVINE INTERVENTIONS: "The Edge of Darkness"

This episode of the DoorWays® Ministry Network podcast, hosted by Ric Shields, features an in-depth conversation with Trent Morrow about the impactful prison ministry in Montevideo, Uruguay. Trent and his family have been serving in Uruguay for over 15 years, initially focusing on children's ministry and later expanding to Teen Challenge and prison ministry.

The podcast highlights the transformative power of faith within the prison system, recounting stories of inmates finding hope and redemption through worship and Bible study. A particularly moving account describes how the distribution of just three Bibles led to a spontaneous worship gathering of 200 inmates, which prison officials initially mistook for a riot. The ministry's efforts have also led to the conversion of a prison official, who now plays a crucial role in facilitating their work.

The episode underscores the profound impact of spiritual intervention in even the most challenging environments, offering a message of hope and the enduring power of faith.

Transcript

TOPIC: DIVINE INTERVENTIONS: "The Edge of Darkness"
GUEST: Trent Morrow
Season 3, Episode 43

Trent Morrow (00:00):

The fifty guys that are in (sector) "D" so it's just, you know, next to them. But they would sing and they would sing this song, "Victory. Victory." It's not like in English, but it's a little bit different. But talking about we have victory in Jesus.

(00:10):

That Wednesday night, the prison officials were all worked up. I mean, they're all running. They had the guards running up with tear gas. They had, were running up with rubber bullets on the catwalk. They thought a riot was happening. And when they get up there, we have video of one of the prison guards videoed a seven second clip. But there's 200, all 200 of these guys in a huge circle. And they're singing that same song.

Ric Shields (00:41):

Welcome to the DoorWays® Ministry Network podcast. I'm your host Ric Shields, and I'm the director of the DoorWays® Ministry Network.

(00:49):

I'm in Montevideo, Uruguay today with my friend Trent Morrow. Trent, his wife Tina and their son Landon live here, and they work in the local churches and have ministries in this area.

(01:00):

We also brought along a Simply Sisters® group. We have five women that are with us today though Trent and I decided to skip out from the women's ministry and come to Rudy's and have a great hamburger. But the gals are doing ministry in churches and doing outreaches, so we're grateful for the opportunity to be here.

(01:20):

Trent, it's been a long time. I think I first came to Uruguay in 1992 and we helped to build a Bible school. I came back a few years later, had an opportunity to meet with some of the workers who were here at that time. I think you and Tina were here at that time. You've been involved in children's ministry and then you started doing some stuff with Teen Challenge. What's that about?

Trent Morrow (01:41):

Well, we had a third term. We were just kind of having a struggle, you know, like, is this all it is in ministry here in Uruguay? Wed been here about 15 years and, but at the same time we're like, "Well, Lord, is this it?" You know? And so, we started to evaluate, started praying. We were doing a Henry Blackaby study, "Experiencing God," and God just really began to speak to us about he's always working, and then where is he working? And then the idea is how can I be a part of that?

(02:08):

And so that's how we ended up starting in ministering in Teen Challenge. Just little things at first. And it's just grown over time. And out of that came prison ministry as well, but through men that had graduated from the Teen Challenge years ago that were involved in the Teen Challenge, but they were also involved in prison ministry.

Ric Shields (02:25):

Well, we were just at the Teen Challenge, the Men's Teen Challenge this morning. The ladies are going to go to a ladies team challenge later and do some ministry. But it was pretty interesting. What did they have 25 guys there or so maybe?

Trent Morrow (02:36):

Yeah, I think we have about 25 or 30. I think we're closer to 30 now.

Ric Shields (02:39):

And they're there; life controlling problems, addictions with alcohol, with drugs, really just life controlling situations. And God has used this to really break some of that stuff. In fact, we, I, met some ministers that have gone through the Teen Challenge program and now are doing effective ministry. Planting churches on the outside. It's so cool.

Trent Morrow (03:00):

Yeah. We’ve got several that are pastors now that have graduated through our Teen Challenge program over the years. We have a couple that's graduated and are in a different country planting a church. They have many that are in different churches in involved in children's ministry, women's ministries, youth ministries in many different churches all over Uruguay.

Ric Shields (03:23):

And some of these guys in Teen Challenging have gotten involved in the prison ministry.

Trent Morrow (03:28):

Another guy that came out, but came in the same time that Claudio did. Another one called Alejandro. He has been ministry in the prison for years now there in Canelones. And it's incredible, incredible ministry. We've talked about it before, but this whole prison's been affected by from the minimum security, the medium security, the maximum security.

Ric Shields (03:50):

The guards.

Trent Morrow (03:51):

Even people employed there that worked there have been saved. And it's a difficult, difficult situation there. And it's constantly changing, but it is, I kind of equate it to being at the edge between where light meets darkness.

Ric Shields (04:07):

I would say it's this side of hell.

Trent Morrow (04:09):

It's, it's pretty rough.

Ric Shields (04:11):

It was something I had no frame of reference for because I've never seen anything like it. I don't think we have anything, I hope we don't have anything like it in the United States. I'm afraid that there are other countries where things exactly like it.

Trent Morrow (04:25):

We were there yesterday and it was great. We had a water baptism. You got to share there. We baptize seven. We wanted to baptize more, but it's kind of difficult and some things have changed. And so, it's, we have to have permission to get into different areas and get these guys. But God worked it out and then we went into the maximum security area and I think that's where most shocking area was for you.

Ric Shields (04:48):

I'm telling you, that's hard to put into words. Somebody asked me, "If you were to give somebody the 20-second, 'this is what the prison was like,' what would you say?" And you, I think you can only come with one word and that would be just shocking. And you just have to stop. But I want to take time and kind of explain that as best we can.

Trent Morrow (05:08):

Sure.

Ric Shields (05:09):

So, let's talk about, there's a big building there.

Trent Morrow (05:13):

Huge building.

Ric Shields (05:14):

And it's divided into four sectors. And each sector, and this is maximum security. When I think about maximum security, I think, you know, maybe two guys to a cell.

Trent Morrow (05:27):

Right.

Ric Shields (05:27):

Maybe solitary confinement or whatever. We didn't see that yesterday.

Trent Morrow (05:32):

No.

Ric Shields (05:32):

It's four of these.

Trent Morrow (05:35):

They're big areas.

Ric Shields (05:36):

Areas, yeah. We think it's not as large as a full-size basketball court, but bigger than half court. And it's two stories tall. Around two of the walls are these rooms, or were they, cells, rooms, whatever?

Trent Morrow (05:55):

Cells. Yeah, cells.

Ric Shields (05:56):

But they don't have like doors on them anymore.

Trent Morrow (05:59):

They used to. It used to be actually worse conditions, if you can imagine that.

Ric Shields (06:03):

That's just hard to believe.

Trent Morrow (06:04):

Yeah.

Ric Shields (06:05):

And so there were, I counted there, there's above the, the one the number 33.

Trent Morrow (06:10):

Correct.

Ric Shields (06:10):

So, 33 rooms at a minimum of six guys in a room. One of the rooms has 24 people in it. And they're, they're all in this area. Two hundred and twenty some guys.

Trent Morrow (06:27):

In each sector.

Ric Shields (06:29):

Yeah. In each sector. And I would point out everywhere we looked, there were clothes hanging, trying to get dry.

Trent Morrow (06:38):

Everything's wet. The floor is constantly, there is humidity is constantly wet. But you got everything drains into the middle of the floor. There's holes in the roof. When it rains, rain water comes in.

Ric Shields (06:49):

And this is a humid environment. It's right on the ocean.

Trent Morrow (06:51):

But this is, this is, it's just all kinds of trash filth. I mean, I, I don't know how, I mean, disease wise, I mean, it, it's got to be pretty ripe, I would think.

Ric Shields (07:03):

But I watched yesterday when they brought in this big caldera, I don't know what to call it, this big cauldron of food. It's a big pot. Huge pot. I have no idea what was in there. And then they were taking a large scoop out and putting it in a gallon bucket, and one of the guys would take that gallon bucket and take it back to their room. And that's how the guys ate. I have idea what was in there. It did not look very good, that's for sure. It was hard.

(07:33):

I saw another guy yesterday brushing his teeth and when he got done, he just spit it on the floor. And then there were some other guys over in the corner taking a shower. This had been an open shower until you guys went in there a few months ago.

Trent Morrow (07:47):

Yeah, we...you have to understand, nobody went in there over a year and a half ago. It was just a miracle of God.

Ric Shields (07:51):

No, they did go in there. They went out to pull out dead bodies.

Trent Morrow (07:55):

Yeah.

Ric Shields (07:55):

And to push in this, this cauldron of food, cauldron of food. That's all they did.

Trent Morrow (08:01):

Yeah. Nobody went in there a year and a half ago. And this was the area of the worst of the worst. And we, of course, what did we do? We were able to go in there and we were able to worship the lord. We preached, we shared, some guys got saved. And that's, it's like that every week. You know, every day there's new guys coming in, there's guys leaving every day. They're, they're moving them around. They're, so, we don't know.

(08:22):

There's two Christian areas Christian cell doors, the blocks, whatever they call inside that sector. And then they, you know, standing up for their faith there in front of everybody in front of the other 150, you know, there's 50 of them. And then there's you know, 150 watching them. I don't know, sometimes maybe our faith...

Ric Shields (08:42):

Not guy, not nice guys. This is maximum security. These are robbers and kidnappers. There's murder and

Trent Morrow (08:49):

Murderers. Yeah. Violators. There's, yeah, there's, there's all

Ric Shields (08:52):

Of all kinds.

(08:54):

Trent. There's this one room in this, these sectors. A, B, C, and D. It's specifically in sector B. One room with 24 guys in it. Now, it's not that much bigger than the, with the rooms that have like six or seven or eight guys in there, but it has 24 guys in there. The other rooms all have toilets and they have sinks, and they maybe have a little shelf or something, but that room doesn't have anything like that.

Trent Morrow (09:24):

Correct. These guys were, they've over, it's an overcrowding situation. So, these guys were actually sleeping on the floor in the big wide open area...

Ric Shields (09:32):

Where, where the floors are all wet and gooey, and junk, and food.

Trent Morrow (09:35):

The floors are constantly wet. It's, it's filthy.

Ric Shields (09:39):

Horrible.

Trent Morrow (09:40):

It's really, it's inhumane. To keep them off the floor, it's actually used to be when it wasn't overcrowded, that room, that bigger room we used as a chapel in there. And that's where guys would go in and pray. We had Bibles in there and they would go in and pray, read the Bible.

(09:55):

But now, because of overcrowding, they put those 24 guys in there. I don't know how they really get 24 in there, honestly. It's not a lot bigger than, I mean, we're putting six in there and I feel like six is really cramped. Just a normal cell.

Ric Shields (10:07):

I think so.

Trent Morrow (10:08):

And I mean, we're talking 24. It's crazy. It's, just, it's nuts.

(10:13):

There is no bathroom in there. And so, what happens in prisons, especially in Uruguay or other, you know, third world countries - we're not really third world, we're second world. But in this case, it's pretty bad. The other cell doors, the other guys in the other cell areas, they will not let those guys use their bathroom. It's only for the guys in theirs. So where do these guys go to the bathroom? And so, there's actually two cells that are Christian cells, and those are the ones that let those 24 guys go to the bathroom in their rooms, in their cells.

Ric Shields (10:44):

So, this room has six guys in it normally,

Trent Morrow (10:48):

Normally.

Ric Shields (10:48):

But they, if they take half of the 24, they get 12 more guys that are coming in to use their toilet, to use their sink. And this is a small room anyway. Yeah. It's not, it's a bedroom, right? In the US It's a small size bedroom.

Trent Morrow (11:01):

Small, small bedroom. Yeah.

Ric Shields (11:02):

And it's already got six beds. And so, they're saying, "No, come in, you can use our toilet, you can use our sink." It's insane.

Trent Morrow (11:09):

Yeah. It's deplorable conditions, honestly. But what a testimony that the Christians would be like, "yes, you can, we'll let you." I mean, it's a testimony in and of itself.

Ric Shields (11:19):

Whoever designed these prisons should have had to spend time there.

Trent Morrow (11:23):

It's horrible. It's horrible. And I always imagine myself, you know, what if that was me there living. I mean, I don't know. It wouldn't be just the physical thing. It would be the mental part. I just don't know.

Ric Shields (11:34):

All the noise.

Trent Morrow (11:35):

Yeah. I just don't know how long could one make it? If you weren't crazy before you went, you would be after a short amount of time.

Ric Shields (11:42):

And because they're just cement block or cement walls and cement floor.

Trent Morrow (11:45):

Yeah. Every, it just reverberates all the noise and sound.

Ric Shields (11:48):

Everywhere. I wanted to get out yesterday because I was tired of the noise. I went outside, and you know what, there was? More noise.

Trent Morrow (11:52):

Yeah. It's everywhere.

Ric Shields (11:53):

It was absolutely crazy.

(11:55):

And you told me when we came home, "Okay, go home, take off your shoes, take your clothes, take them off. Go take a shower. Hot water and soap." It's a pretty disgusting place.

(12:06):

You're listening to the DoorWays® Ministry Network podcast. My name is Ric Shields. I'm sitting at Rudy's, it's a hamburger place in Montevideo, Uruguay, because it was a place that I could sit and talk to my friend Trent Morrow. He and his family are here and do ministry in Montevideo.

(12:21):

Especially, I'm interested in talking about this prison ministry that I saw yesterday. And it's just, I can't describe it. I don't have the words. I'm trying to come up with them. But the best thing I can do is just tell you the things that we saw and the things we experienced. So I, when we first went, we went into this chapel that you guys had helped to build out. I guess it used to be

Trent Morrow (12:48):

2016. Yeah.

Ric Shields (12:49):

A building. They threw trash in or something.

Trent Morrow (12:51):

It used to be the dump of the prison. It's a, it's a nice beautiful building, especially on the inside. It had the built inside the wall as a glass blocks that make a cross because they wouldn't let us put anything on the walls. So, we built the cross into the wall. So, we had a baptistry built in there and a platform. And we hold services there. I don't know, we have maybe what 80 guys in there.

Ric Shields (13:16):

Probably so.

Trent Morrow (13:16):

Crazy. Worshiping the Lord.

Ric Shields (13:18):

Oh my gosh. Demonstrative.

Trent Morrow (13:20):

Very demonstrative.

Ric Shields (13:20):

I couldn't believe it. I mean, and again, here's the thing that has so amazed me, is the liberty. These guys realize they have liberty in Christ while they're incarcerated. On the other hand, man, unless you realize the liberty you have in Christ while you're incarcerated, you'll never understand it when you get out. And these guys were dancing and singing and then they started putting their arms around each other, dancing around. I kind of felt like I was the prisoner. I was the, I couldn't, I couldn't do that. And these guys were free. It was crazy.

(13:58):

So, we baptized seven guys yesterday.

Trent Morrow (14:00):

Yep. Praise the Lord.

Ric Shields (14:01):

And the, for the most part, they're new converts then. Is that right?

Trent Morrow (14:04):

Yes. We have classes that they have to take. There were other guys, but it's, things are a little bit complicated depending on where they're at in the prison and where we can get them out. Things have been, it's like, it's a fight like this all the time. There's always enemies trying to take (advantage), but you know, those, it's just 80 and we had 50 in the max security, but there's hundreds of Christians in that prison. We just can't bring them all in the chapel at once. We just won't hold them all.

Ric Shields (14:27):

Yeah. You know, you told me when we did a podcast a few months ago about the first time you're able to get into this, this sector "B". That there's A, B, C, and D. But "B" was so bad, people wouldn't go in. They'd go in and they'd pull out the dead bodies. They'd open the gate, throw in this big caldron of food and pull it back out. But that was it. They, they wouldn't go in. And so you guys had been there one day passing out some bibles.

Trent Morrow (14:56):

This is before, yeah. This was the "B (sector)," we had never been in. Matter of fact, we never ministered in "B". We never prayed at the gate, you know, at the, the, the gates there. We never messed with "B". They were, they were horrible. They were some of the worst. And so, there was a block of Christians about 50 in "D" at that time. And that's, that's been a couple years ago. We went down to give them some bibles.

(15:18):

You know, we're always thankful for people and individuals and churches that give us money for Bibles, because the Word of God is powerful. And so, we go and we're giving out these bibles. And I had like 48, I had two boxes, 24 in each one. And we ended up with like three left I think, you know, we're like, we had five maybe. And we're like, okay, there's a couple guys right across the hall in "C" and we, you know, we gave them. I'm like, "We got three Bibles. What do we do?" And that's all prison officials, you know, ministry guys. I go, "let's do "B". We've never done anything in "B". Let's just give on our way out. Let's just give these three bibles." And so, there's mesh on the bars. You can't really reach through the bars.

Ric Shields (15:55):

And it's the only sector that has the mesh, isn't it?

Trent Morrow (15:57):

Right, because they were throwing stuff and they,

Ric Shields (15:58):

They were so bad. Yeah.

Trent Morrow (15:59):

They were talking about at one point just putting up a metal sheeting there and just block them in so that they, you know. They, they just, just close them in. Just close them in there, lock them in. Forget about them. But they, they hadn't done that. And so, we, there's a little bitty holes in the mesh at the, at one point. And so we just squeezing those poor little bibles and just shoving them through there. Yeah. We prayed for those guys you know, just touching their fingertips because the mesh is on there. Couldn't really touch them.

Ric Shields (16:25):

Yeah. It's crazy. And they come up and they reach out. They just want to touch somebody.

Trent Morrow (16:29):

Yeah. It's crazy. And so that was on a Monday. By Wednesday at night, the 50 guys that are in "D" so it's just, you know, next to them. But they would sing and they would sing this song, "Victory. Victory." It's not like in English, but it's a little bit different. But talking about we have victory in Jesus. That Wednesday night, the prison officials were all worked up. I mean, they're all running. They had the guards running up with tear gas. They had, were running up with rubber bullets on the scaffolding there, on the catwalk. To, they thought a riot was happening.

(17:00):

And when they get up there we have video of one of the prison guards videoed a seven second clip. But there's 200, all 200 of these guys in a huge circle. And they're singing that same song.

Ric Shields (17:12):

It's just amazing!

Trent Morrow (17:13):

It's crazy. How does that work? It was three Bibles.

Ric Shields (17:17):

It was three Bibles. And...

Trent Morrow (17:19):

How does that work?

Ric Shields (17:19):

...The Power of the Holy Spirit?

Trent Morrow (17:21):

It is. I, that's what I've really learned. You know, when you are alongside fellow people who pray, who fast, who are men of God, women of God, and with the Word of God, there's a lot of power to change.

Ric Shields (17:36):

I especially like the story about the prison guard whose life was changed. Tell me about that.

Trent Morrow (17:43):

We have they call them an operator. They are, they're not prison guards, they're prison officials. But she would be more like the person that takes requests that if they need to be taken to medical or they need she helps us you know, bringing guys to the chapel, letting us in to different areas of the prison.

Ric Shields (18:01):

And, and I’ve got to point out, this gal is maybe four foot maybe six, four foot eight maybe.

Trent Morrow (18:07):

Is she that tall?

Ric Shields (18:09):

I don't know.

Trent Morrow (18:09):

She's really short.

Ric Shields (18:10):

Doesn't carry a gun, doesn't have mace. I mean, she's, she's pretty, she's pretty tough too, though.

Trent Morrow (18:17):

Yep.

Ric Shields (18:17):

But yeah, so anyway,

Trent Morrow (18:18):

When she'd been in all of our chapels for a long time. And after one of the, and for years, you know, not for years, but for a couple years. And finally, we had a Uruguayan speaker came and shared and she'd, you know, she's heard the message many times. And he came up to her and he says, "Why have you not, why have you not received Christ?" He goes, "Don't You think it's time?" And she goes, "Yeah, actually I do." And so, she got saved and she is our biggest asset in the prison.

Ric Shields (18:44):

Oh, my word.

Trent Morrow (18:45):

Because she goes, she's the one that goes, helps us get the guys to bring them to chapel. She's the one that lets us into the different areas of the prison. She fights for us kind of behind the scenes to be able to have access. And so, she's part of our team. She's just incredible.

Ric Shields (18:59):

And knows so many of the guys that are incarcerated. And though she's pretty tough, she still has a smile on her face. And you can tell that she's been touched by Jesus. She's happy too, I don't know what it was like before, but she's pretty happy to be there and be serving now.

Trent Morrow (19:16):

Well, it's, it was always complicated because for her to do what she does for us, she has to miss her lunch.

Ric Shields (19:23):

Oh, wow.

Trent Morrow (19:24):

And so, every time we're there. And so, I started talking to her one day and I said, "Well, what about just considering it fasting for the Lord, for the work?" And she goes, "I've never fasted." I go, "but you have been fasting."

Ric Shields (19:37):

Yeah, yeah. Really.

Trent Morrow (19:39):

You just, you just didn't know. You just didn't have the right perspective of why you were doing it. And so, she did. She told me, we were just there yesterday, and she said, "Today, I am fasting for the Lord. Today I, you know, I didn't have, I didn't eat lunch because I was helping, we're doing this water baptism, we're doing this service, getting you guys into the max security area. We're getting, you know, to minister." And she goes "you know, today I was fasting."

Ric Shields (20:00):

Our current series is about miraculous interventions, and what a miraculous intervention that God provided when he gave you an opportunity to squeeze some bibles through that steel mesh into sector "B". And that place turned around.

Trent Morrow (20:21):

Totally. Shortly thereafter, within a month, we had our first service inside sector "B", where we preach and minister and pray. And that goes on every week. It goes on every week. At least once a week, sometimes twice a week. But we're in there every week, ministering, praying, touching the un, the worst. You know, the worst of the worst. The unwanted, the, you know, the ones, the forgotten ones. The ones that no one wants to remember. And it's incredible.

(20:51):

You know, the thing is, sometimes we, we have the idea that when people get saved, they, they're different and you are different. But there's also a process that has to happen in your life living for the Lord. You know, some of these guys have really bad backgrounds, families, horrific.

Ric Shields (21:09):

It's all they've lived in, it's all they've known.

Trent Morrow (21:10):

And, you know, you're like going, God's grace is pretty amazing. God's mercy is pretty amazing because he's working in them. And you see it, and you sense it. Our goal is really in the prison ministry is when these guys get done with their term, their sentence, that they don't just not come back, but that they really live for the Lord. That they really have that seed that was planted would continue to grow.

Ric Shields (21:36):

Trent, there are people that are listening who really need a divine intervention. They need to see God impact their life in such a way that it brings changes, maybe as monumental as the change that took place in sector "B", where things completely, radically change. And I wonder if you would take a moment and just pray for us. Pray for those who need a divine intervention in their lives, that God would show up and that they would be able to see him at work in their life. Can you pray with us?

Trent Morrow (22:10):

Sure. Absolutely.

(22:12):

Dear Lord, we thank you for this opportunity to share, Lord, your testimony of what you're doing for the unwanted, for the deserving of punishment. Lord, that you still have mercy. You still have grace. You still do miracles. Your Word is powerful.

(22:27):

And Lord, we pray for those that have needs right now, Lord, that maybe they're just at their wits end. They don't know what to do. But Lord, we just pray right now for them, Lord, that you would touch them, that you would encourage them, Lord, that their faith would grow, Lord Jesus, that they would find peace with you and that Lord, that they would give themselves wholeheartedly over to you, Lord, with confidence and Lord, with a faith, oh God, that you are in control when they put their life in your hands, Lord, that they don't have to worry, Lord, that they can understand with the assurance, Lord, that you are with them, that Lord, what you started in them, that you're going to complete.

(22:59):

Lord, give them the faith, Lord to continue just to take that next step. Take that next step towards you and Lord to have faith for miracles. Because God, you still do miracles. Lord, you've always done miracles and you're not any different yesterday than you what you are today, than what you'll be tomorrow. The God of the Bible, the stories that we read, Lord, the miracles that we read, Lord, those are still possible today and even more so.

(23:21):

And Lord, we just pray that God, that you would let miracles happen in their lives, Lord, that you would give opportunity, Lord, for those miracles to happen. And Lord, we pray right now in Jesus' name, Lord, you would touch those lives and that Lord, that hope would just overwhelm them, Lord, that the Holy Spirit Lord would just cover them with your peace and your presence. And we ask all that in your name. Amen.

Ric Shields (23:44):

It's been said that the greatest move of God in America is taking place within prison walls. But I can tell you it isn't limited to the United States. The opportunity to see what happens in the lives of those touched by the Holy Spirit in Uruguay was fabulous. I'm so grateful for the opportunity that Trent Morrow facilitated.

(24:04):

I'd like to hear from you. Drop me a note at info at doorways.cc and let me know if we're providing the kind of content that's helpful or encouraging to you.

(24:13):

Until next time, may the Lord bless you as you'll follow after him. Thanks for listening.