God Behind Bars Let's Incarcerated Woman Lead Praise & Worship

A woman incarcerated in Gasden County, Fl., lived her dream of leading praise and worship thanks to God Behind Bars, an organization that visits nationwide to lead inmates to Christ.

On April 7, God Behind Bars shared a video of 33-year-old Jazmyn O’Neal leading the women inmates in the Gadsden Correctional Facility in Quincy, Fl., praise and worship.

After a guitarist from God Behind Bars finished praying, he and O’Neal dove into “Holy Spirit,” written by Katie and Bryan Torwalt, of Jesus’ culture.

O’Neal then transitioned into an acapella version of “Hallelujah.”

According to God Behind Bars’ caption under an April 3 Instagram post comprising a video of O’Neal singing “Hallelujah,” they surprised her by allowing her to lead worship. But they didn’t plan for it to go the way it did.

“SURPRISING an inmate to lead worship for her prison—HER DREAM! We found out that this incarcerated woman’s dream was to lead worship for her prison… We wanted to make this happen for her, but we had no idea what was going to happen. She gets on the mic, and the Holy Spirit fills this prison; we will never be the same!”

O’Neal requested “Holy Spirit” and shocked the room with her vocal capabilities. God Behind Bars said 27 women dedicated their lives to Jesus at the end of the night.

“Inmate sings ‘Holy Spirit’ for her prison, and we were shocked! We asked this incarcerated woman to come up and lead a song (she had never led for this many people), she asked for us to play ‘Holy Spirit,’” the caption read under a post the organization shared on April 9. When she started singing, the room was shocked! You could feel the Holy Spirit truly moving! At the end of the night, 27 women gave their lives to Jesus!”

Commenters gave their thoughts on the moving moment that O’Neal contributed to.

“God can use anybody at any time!! I love this for her [and] the inmates who’ve accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Jesus is King, the way, the truth and the light!”

“What a beautiful voice this woman has. And her declaration of chains to be broken.”

“Hearing her sing gave me the holy goosebumps [and] made me emotional. She is filled with the Holy Spirit [and] her voice is a gift from God.”

One commenter who had left the same facility O’Neal is in said O’Neal had changed a lot.

“…she has changed, and that is the real her. Beautiful voice; she uses it, too.”

God Behind Bars works to end the cycle of generational incarceration by reaching men and women incarcerated and helping them turn towards a better, God-filled life. They also reunite families to mend a broken bond and rebuild relationships. 

The organization launched PandoApp, which allows inmates access to Christian music, podcasts, devotionals and messages.