Holy Land Reflection: Meeting Jesus in a prison cell

Dr Swee Ang

Orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Swee Ang, sailed on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in September 2018 with an international group of volunteers - in an effort to bring desperately-needed medical aid to Gaza. The boat was boarded in international waters by Israeli forces. Dr Swee and her colleagues were manhandled, arrested, detained and eventually deported. In this account, Swee recalls someone she met in prison.

"Just prior to my deportation, Lucia from Spain and I were taken to the airport deportation detention centre and in our prison cell was a well dressed black lady. She was dressed in her best clothes and crying quietly. I got talking to her and found out that she had paid for a pilgrimage in the Holy Land which is going to be the trip of her life, but the tour agent did not get a visa for her. She is black and from Namibia and therefore put on deportation while the rest of the tour group went on and left her to be deported! I am convinced that if she was white they would have given her a visa for 10 days.

At first I was wondering how to comfort her, but almost immediately the Gospel came alive. I was able to share with her that her tour will not allow her to see the Living Stones of the Holy Land since the Palestinian Christians are all imprisoned behind the Separation Wall.

I told her that the Lord is the first Living Stone in fact He called Himself the Cornerstone. We do not need to physically visit the Jerusalem occupied by Israel. That city was described as Sodom and Gomorrah where the Lord was crucified in Revelations. We are the new Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ descending from Heaven in Revelations. Right in our midst in our prison cell is the Lord, and this encounter with Him is more than the physical pilgrimage. He is here to richly bless her who is poor in spirit. I told her that the Apostle John was probably 90 years old and was exiled to Patmos on his own. He was unable to celebrate the Lord's day with the rest of the church but the Lord brought the heavenly worship to him and he wrote what he saw in the book of Revelations.

I also told her when she goes home to Namibia and the rest of the group might boast of how wonderful the Holy Land trip had been and she will have to remember what the Lord said that we are not to seek the Living among the dead, and He said Blessed are you who had not seen and yet believed. That is her - She is greatly blessed.

After a couple of hours she knelt and hugged me kissed my hand knowing that I was put in her prison cell to bring her the Living Word.

The Israeli Army even stole my Bible but the Holy Spirit just brought back so many things the Lord has spoken about to share with this African sister.

She also asked me about Gaza, and apart from telling her the suffering of the two million people in Gaza and how they are being imprisoned, how they were starved, killed and wounded daily. Our boat was hijacked by the Israeli Army while bringing medical aid to Gaza, and all 22 of us were taken prisoner, but I went through with her Matthew Chapter 5 from memory, convincing her that we are the salt and light of the world. We also recalled the Acts of the Apostle where Philip was diverted to bring the Gospel to the eunuch of the Queen of Sheba and that was how the Ethiopian Church was founded. I reminded her that the love of the Lord is complete that even in her deep sorrow and disappointment we are able to share and be blessed by His love.

Pray for this Namibian lady called Helena that what the Holy Spirit taught us in prison will remain with her always. She did not visit the stone walls of Jerusalem, but we have the evening praying and listening to the teachings of the Holy Spirit and meeting the Lord. My Bible was taken away from me by the Israeli Army but His word was written in my heart. What a privilege to be able to bring hope and comfort to this African sister."

God bless you all

Dr Swee Ang is a Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Royal London Hospital, WhiteChapel. She is also co-founder of Medical Aid for Palestinians. Her book: 'From Beirut to Jerusalem', is published by The Other Press and is available through the Amos Trust website with all proceeds going towards their Woman 4 Woman Appeal for the women of Gaza. To buy your copy, see: www.amostrust.org/from-beirut-to-jerusalem

Read more about Medical Aid for Palestinians here: www.map.org.uk