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Why are we called
The Church of the Damascus Road?
As the steering committee considered a name for the congregation, many
names were considered, but the one that seemed to make the most sense to
the Steering Committee was chosen from the account in Acts
9 of the conversion of Saul, later the Apostle Paul.
There are several moments in this story that prison ministry embodies.
Certainly, Saul's warrant for arrest is one experience common to inmates.
Saul's encounter with the risen Lord changed his way of thinking about
the Messiah, as do our encounters with the Risen Lord. His instructions
to wait patiently in the house of Judas was like doing time in his prison
of blindness. A man who had misgivings about going to see a murderous man
is something all believers can identify with as they contemplate prison
ministry. When the two met, Ananias called Saul his brother - something
visitors come to realize after their first visit, that we are all sisters
and brothers in Christ. The change that happened in Saul, later the Apostle
Paul, is a change that only Christ can cause to heppen in us. God tells
Ananias that the muderous Saul is his chosen instrument, a message from
God that he chooses even the "worst of us" to be his intruments to proclaim
and show his love to others. |