Prison ministry

Friday 17th April

Once again I found myself leading the singing at devotions this morning! There was no one to lead as Alice is still away in Lira on a 2 day trip, so we each played a little role today. I then spent a quiet morning in the office with Lyn, preparing the rest of my talk for today.

In the afternoon we headed off to the women’s prison in Arua. I had been asked to give a little talk while we were there. After praying about it, I decided John 4, Jesus and the woman at the well was the correct choice of passage. It works really well in an African context, especially with women, since they are the ones who go to the borehole daily to collect water in jerry cans. We talked about how hard you have to work just to get some water, and sometimes religion seems like that but a relationship with Jesus is different because he has already done the work on the cross, so that we have free access to the water and it will never run dry.

As we entered the gates, the women began to gather in the courtyard outside the cell blocks. I suppose it was a bit like a scene from the Shawshank Redemption. The place was so dusty and barren and they were all dressed the same way, in yellow striped dresses. There was about 35 of them and they started to flock together carrying a large plastic sheet which they lay on the ground to sit on as they listened. I took my seat beside a lady called Gertrude who would be my translator for the occasion. One by one they crawled on their knees in front of us to shake hands. This is another one of those sort of awkward cultural norms that I can’t get around. They do this as a sign of respect.

A few things really struck me while I was there. One was the age profile of the women. I would guess that about half of them were around my age and most of them will be there for a long time! I supposed I was saddened by the potential that sat right in front of me and would never get a chance. The second was the worship! They had a few drums and maracas and they sang and danced with all that they had, despite the surroundings and conditions. The third, and probably most shocking, was that many of them are mothers and their children live with them in the prison! These are just babies and toddlers, again with so much potential that, for the first few years at least, wouldn’t get a proper shot at life.

They had a celebration today though as one of the ladies was released and her family came to pick her up at the gate. We could see it all happening. She brought her basin with her clothes in it to the gate and passed it to her family. She went through some administration with the guard and within a few minutes she walked out of the gate with her family. There was a sense of gladness among the others that she was free to continue her life but also reluctance at her leaving their group. They waved her off with a few tears in their eyes. 

After I had spoken (and was translated) I prayed and then we shared the dry bread rolls and tea that Canon Isaac’s wife, Jessica, had brought. It was amazing how much of a treat this was to these women! We said our goodbyes and they thanked us for coming to speak. In some ways I was almost glad to leave because of the difficult environment and circumstances but yet part of me wished that I could sit for longer and hear each of their stories. I guess the difficulty of short term mission is that either you don’t ever get to build real relationship or you just begin and then your time comes to an end. 

Tomorrow is going to be a chill out day. Perhaps some last minute sermon prep for Sunday, some reading and definitely some sitting in the sun for a while. This week has flown by and as I am beginning to talk about arrangements for going home I wish I had an extra week here to go back to some places and visit people I have met. 

Grace has brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home

Danielle x