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A dozen years ago, less than 1 percent of the Olmos maximum security prison population 40 miles southeast of Buenos Aires professed to be evangelical Christians. Today, however, Olmos has one of the largest prison churches in the world: 1,450 out of 3,000 inmates have become members of Christ the Only Hope Church.

"What's happened in Olmos cannot be humanly explained," says Assembly of God pastor Juan Zuccarelli, who is also director of non-Catholic religions at Olmos. "Our goal is to see this prison 100 percent converted for Christ."

The growth is partly due to the physical layout of the facility, which has no individual cells. As many as 70 prisoners are crammed into communal cellblocks.

Zuccarelli organized an evangelical crusade inside the prison in 1985. "This was the first time something like that happened in Argentina," he says. Around 300 prisoners attended, and 100 accepted Christ as Savior. Initially, believing inmates lived throughout the general prison population. But in 1987, prison authorities authorized the first "evangelical cellblock," beginning a period of spectacular growth. Now the entire fourth and fifth floors are occupied by Christians, and the church is looking to expand.

"The reputation of the Christian cellblocks is a powerful evangelistic tool," Zuccarelli says. "According to the Argentine penal laws, inmates must be separated according to their crimes-thieves with thieves, murderers with murderers." Yet in the Christ the Only Hope cellblocks, inmates are placed randomly, regardless of their offense. "It's a living example of our new nature in Christ," he says. Evangelism is not limited to preaching by example. Inmate pastors have permission to visit and evangelize the other cellblocks, to preach in the courtyard, and even to conduct baptismal services. According to prison administrator Daniel Tejeda, an average of 350 prisoners are baptized every six months.

STRICT STANDARDS: Inmates do not flock to the church in an attempt to ease the regimented prison lifestyle. In fact, the church is maintained by a rigorous discipleship program that has its own code of conduct in which inmate pastors have unquestioned authority.

New members are moved to an "observation cellblock" and are required to sign a consent form. "They must agree to renounce smoking, homosexual acts, violence, drug use, and television viewing," says Tejeda, who is also a leader in the church Zuccarelli pastors. In an environment where church is in session 24 hours a day, backsliding into unacceptable behavior is easily detected.

"For each infraction the brother must tithe his time, two hours and forty minutes in prayer," Tejada says.

Still, most find the highly organized and structured evangelical cellblocks preferable to the violence and fear that characterizes daily life in the normal cellblocks.

PENTECOSTAL EMPHASIS: Christ the Only Hope Church is thoroughly Pentecostal. Healing and miracles are reportedly commonplace. Issues of church government and doctrinal differences, so common in outside churches, are nonexistent because the majority of believers find Christ in prison. The Olmos fellowship is all they know.

While prayer is sometimes used as a punishment for infractions, most often it is voluntary. Each night, 365 days a year, six inmates in each cellblock pray from midnight to 6 a.m. "Two hours are spent in Bible reading, two in prayer and praise, and two in intercession, bunk by bunk, for their sleeping cellmates," Zuccarelli says.

Each evangelical cellblock has a leader who conducts a daily service and shepherds the 50 to 60 inmates under his care. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, believers from the entire prison congregate in the huge Catholic church on the prison grounds for a united meeting. Although Zuccarelli, Tejeda, and other pastors provide leadership from the outside, the day-to-day ministries are run by inmate pastors.

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September 16 1996, Vol. 40, No. 10