The door creaks open revealing a dirty and dank walkway separating four jail cells. Dozens of men crowd into two on the left while a woman sits by herself on the right.

Mei Zhou,* a volunteer from Taiwan, stands in front of the cell with 20 men sitting on the floor.  Her heart goes out to them. Not only are they squeezed together in one concrete box but they share one open toilet. Some are here for immigration violations while others are held for more serious violations. Zhou, however, doesn’t care why they landed in jail — she only wants to share God’s love. The men listen intently as she shares the story of Jesus.

“Does anyone want to accept Jesus?” she asks at the end of the story.

A young man in the back corner raises his hand and says, “I do.”

He walks to the front of the cell as the other men watch closely. Zhou reaches through the bars grasping his hand in hers and prays loud enough that her normally soft voice echoes throughout the concrete block room.

Tears roll down the prisoner’s face. Four other men watch and listen intently, tears trickling down their cheeks as well.

“My life is a messed up circle,” the prisoner says. “I can’t get out.”

Never deterred, Zhou replies, “I want to teach you a song. That way, when you are discouraged, or sad, you can sing it and have a reminder that Jesus is with you.”

Zhou first recites the words of the song to the young man “Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus, come in today, come in to stay, come into my heart, Lord Jesus.”

Then, she starts. The first line, she sings alone.

The other Southern Cross volunteers handing out food and water join Zhou. They slowly take the song from one voice to a rising chorus, filling the jail to the ceilings with sound. Prisoners from the neighboring cells peek out to see what’s happening. Without pausing, the team sings it through a second time.

As the song fades and a reverent silence falls on the dark and dank cells, the volunteers silently file out, respecting this “holy moment.”

Inmates smile and quietly thank the volunteers for coming.

“Thank you,” they say. “Thank you for coming and encouraging us. You are the only ones who come to see us. [Other religions] never come. But followers of Jesus come.

“We see Jesus in you.”