Prison Ministry

 

Thank you for all your prayers. Caroline has been working on training some evangelists who have a heart for helping on a practical side with first-aid while sharing the good news we have. She worked alongside a team from the USA who were here for a weeks intensive training on various medical practices. This last week she has been working with those who didn't attain the standard that the instructors wanted. Caroline knew that they had the theory but lacked the experience on the practical side, so she had three days of practical, taking blood pressure among other things, time and time again until they know it in their sleep.

Prison Ministry Victor was asked by a colleague who he works with at the English language centre, if he was interested in running a literacy class at the prison. Therefore, Victor has been to see those in charge of the prison, the proconsular who oversees all things related to the judicial system here. Permission was given, and last week 32 prisoners in two groups of 16 started a course on how to read and write. Victor is not teaching the class of four hours a week, as there is a local teacher who wanted to start a prison ministry and we decided that this was a good opportunity for him. Victor was in the prison for signing up the prisoners to the course. The first one was in for double murder and the second has dismembered his mother in a rage, the third was a 14 year-old boy who has been accused of petty theft but has not gone before the judge yet. We hope that learning to read and write will give them a little bit of hope, in a desperate situation. Victor took this picture trying not to take anyone's faces to respect their privacy. There are 256 inmates in a prison that was built to house 100. They are allowed out of the cell to wash clothes and themselves. Now they can leave for one hour more, to learn to read and write.