It is now two weeks since I got detained by the FBI and Homeland Security, falsely accused of smuggling weapons, and it has been some rollercoasters since then! I hope you are doing good, all of you out there in the freedom, but TRUE freedom is IN CHRIST and nothing else. The one the SON sets free shall be FREE INDEED, and that means no matter where we are! You can be out there and be bound, and you can be in here and be FREE! But I do long to come out, for sure!
After ten days in life-changing isolation (see my previous post or read here:
https://thelastreformation.com/i-am-truly-thankful-for…/) I was transferred to an open bay, where there are eight four-men rooms, and where you can walk out into the main room where there’s the TV, telephone, vending machine, and benches you can sit on and play cards or other things. When I came in here, it was truly scary. Twenty or thirty men all looked at “the new guy.” I was put in a room with three others, and an open toilet and a shower in the corner. I walked around and felt so uncomfortable, being around a lot of people, with everyone looking at me.
I wanted to call Lene, so I stood beside the telephone and hoped that it would be ready. But after waiting for the phone a long time, every time the person was finished, a new person stepped in, in front of me. Then I was told that there is a whole system here, and there were already people in line, and one told me that in the evenings, one of the phones was for the black people, and the other phone was for the hispanic people. And there I stood, a white man in the middle of all of this.
Half of the people here have a red uniform, which means that they are from a violent event and came from prison, and the other half are orange uniforms like me, which are non-violent events. Everyone is waiting for a trial, and waiting to be set free or get exported out of the country.
So it was not easy to be here, to be honest. In the beginning, the first night, I almost wanted to go back to isolation, to be alone in the room with God. But what do I do? Now I’m here. So I walked around and was praying…. Then I found some chess pieces laying in a corner, and I picked them up and I saw there were all the chess pieces you need for a chess board! So I found a piece of paper and I drew a chess board on my paper, and then I sat down and waited for somebody to come and sit down and play chess with me. And after a short time, I was playing chess, and I started to get the first connection!
The next day became much better, as I started to know the system here and find out that there also was another phone I could actually call from whenever I wanted! But that phone costs money, and therefore it was often free. I could therefore make calls to Lene when I wanted, and it was really amazing! We have been married for more than twenty-five years and this is the longest we have ever been apart from each other, so it has been so good to talk with her so often, and also even to have a video call with her and see her face to face!
I have also been out in a small yard with a high fence, and I saw the sun for the first time in eleven days! It was really nice to be out and seeing the sun! After some time I absolutely like this more than the isolation! And to be able to go in and out of the room! And I’ve also got my first disciples, some people I’m teaching! There is especially a young man, who when he was in isolation last week he got an encounter with God. He got a vision of God and he started to cry, and it really impacted him. But he did not know what the vision meant, so I could explain the vision to him and I’ve been spending time with him, preaching the Gospel and sharing more. And he’s getting really ready to give his life to God, so that is beautiful!
I also got the chance to meet and talk with my lawyer for the first time, who is now working on getting me out on a bond. But yesterday was very, very special for me! First, an ICE officer came to me and gave me a paper with my court case, which was August 16th. Then I asked him if he knew that we were working on getting me out on a bond, and he said, “No, no, no bond here! You will be here many months. Just get used to it. And then you will be deported!” It was really hard to hear those words…. “Many months in here, and then be deported,” that was how he said it. His words hit really hard. I was in shock. But a short time after, an inmate came and told me more, that it’s still not his words that count. It’s what the judges say that counts.
And they didnt know yet that I have an attorney, which do the big difference.
Later I called Lene, and she shared a vision a friend from Holland had just gotten about us, and it really spoke to me! So I had a good time in prayer with God afterwards, standing on the promise of God, and I felt so much better! After that, I actually got invited to a meeting, in my room! There is a man here who has been here the longest, over two years, and he has been gathering some people, and some of the people I’ve been discipling were now invited to join! And we were ten people in my little cell! And there, we sat on the bed or on the ground, and he started saying that this was the biggest crowd he had ever spoken to, as he had met God inside prison, and had never been taught anything else than what he read in the Bible! It was very special! It was an unforgettable moment! And everything he shared was actually so beautiful! And it was exactly the same as what I shared with the young man I had been discipling the same day, so it really spoke to him, and he really got touched and could see how God is calling him!
And now, I have met with this leader, and am going to continue discipling him as he’s still new in the faith, and I will be speaking at the next meeting we are having here! So it is really beautiful what God is doing! This man is one everyone here has respect for, as he has been here the longest time, and he said to me today that God has truly sent me to disciple him, as he has been praying for somebody to come and help him because he still was so new to it!
So yesterday was really, really special! I see that God, He is in control, even when somebody comes and gives a negative report! This has truly been the best Bible school I’ve ever been to! So many experiences and times with God and in His Word, but I admit I really am tired sometimes, and I really miss coming out and seeing my family and friends. I feel that I am more than ready to come out, even though I know I need to be here right now. Please keep me in your mind and in your prayers and support for both me and my family. It really means a lot to us to hear that you have not forgotten us. Please be BOLD in sharing the true Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ! That is the ONLY thing that can truly set people FREE!
Your brother in Christ, love and miss you all, and I’m looking so much forward to seeing you face to face to share more of what God has done on this amazing journey! Life with God is truly AMAZING, and it’s the life He has for ALL of us! And for all of us, let’s look at the HOPE we have in HIM, and one day soon we will receive the crown of righteousness that Jesus our Lord has for all of us who have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith!
God bless you all out there! Please keep praying for me and my family, pray for my bond hearing, pray for our case, and pray for the people we are now discipling here in jail, that we will lay a good foundation so that when God takes me out they will continue to build on what God has done in their life!
Big blessings from here after two weeks,
Torben Sondergaard
Founder of The Last Reformation
