Bomet Prison

We ended up in jail today.  That's Mike's joke that I just had to use, so sorry.

Prison Ministry (Correctional Ministry)

Today, the 22nd, we drove to a hotel in Bomet to meet with the men and women who are involved in Correctional Ministry of Kenya.   They were very happy to have us, and the plan for the day would be for us to be able to visit the medium security men's prison here in town.

The pre-visit meeting started in a local hotel meeting room with prayer and greetings and ended with prayer.  One custom we experienced today, repeated many times with slightly different group composition and locale, was to conduct a long series of welcome speeches and introductions, prayers of thanks, have some meeting content, and conclude with closing comments and prayers.  The reason I think it is notable is that in America, we are less patient for "trivial formalities", and want to jump to the content of the meeting.  It's amazing to see the implications of such a slight shift in focus.  Content is still important, but without acknowledging God, the content is in vain.  The similar bible verse came up in our team reflections.

Some pastors have a saying, that at any time they need to be able to preach, to pray, or to die.  I'm glad that Jeff and Mike also subscribe to that principle, because many times today either of them have been asked to stand up and say a few words (and when they were done, they were asked to keep talking-- "say two more things, then close in prayer" is an example of the local CM director, Wesley's, directions to him).  Jeff did an outstanding job (who am I to criticize!) and Mike complimented his prepared sessions very well by, in his closing comments, enclosing Jeff's message within cultural customs, etcetera.  

Remember my previous comments about titles of clergy? I note that here, Mike is a "reverend", and Jeff is a "pastor".  In my understanding, I think that technically Jeff would also be a "reverend".  Alene explained that one level preaches, the other does preaching and baptism, and one does preaching, baptism, and funerals.

We headed to the actual prison.  My first impressions are from someone who is used to seeing prisions (from the outside) in the US.  I hesitate to describe the conditions and security systems too much for fear of mocking.  We were let into the outer perimeter, and then met with the warden/head guy, who was referred to as "In Charge". Let me take a moment to explain one of many incredible things from today.  In the US, it would be very unheard of for prison officials to be not only welcoming of a christian organization saying the name of Jesus, much less embracing them.  That's what happened throughout the day.  The prison officials know what power there is to change lives permanently by changing the heart.  They know this, because several of them are changed men themselves.  

Our pre meeting (the one in the hotel was the pre-pre meeting, I suppose) with the prison officials took maybe an hour of greeting, blessings, and from my perspective trying to understand heavy accents or translated heavy accents.  One thing, that cannot be understated was our impression of their thankfulness to God and to us, of mutual blessing, and of the guard's love for the prisoners.  Yes, that's right, you read correctly.  

Next we filed into the prison yard (two more gates through concentric fences, and found two groups of men sitting in the noon-time equatorial sun in the yard and lined to the north (sunward), and chairs facing them at a distance of about 10-15 meters.  The main buildings were two cinder block wards, a "mixed ward" of cinder block, and a few other small buildings of tin and wood (the guard shacks, etc.).

I mentioned that there were two groups of men.  One was convicted prisoners in their striped uniforms/pajamas, and flip flops.  Alene reports that she was suprised to see all of the men dressed.  Until today, the men were typically only partially dressed--there wasn't enough money to keep them clothed.  These men have been convicted of theft, rape, even murder.  They typically don't have skills coming into prison, and they come from uneducated backgrounds.

The other group of men, called remanies, I think, are awaiting trial.  That could take a long time.  As you know, in the US, you aren't sent to the same prison as convicts until you've been convicted.

In all, we saw about 100 men: 50 remanies and 50 convicts, give or take.  There are over 300 people in this prison.  

As we approached the chairs we were to sit in, the prisoners were being led in wonderful call and response African singing by one prisoner.  He had a great voice, and so did they.  I didn't understand but a few words, but you could tell that they were one.  You may know, and I'd heard, that African songs are LONG.  Lots of verses, and lots of repetition.  Like 10-12 minutes per song.  

Normal introductions as described in the previous two meetings, and we eventually got to Pastor Jeff's message from Mark, about who are we in the story of the four men bringing their lame friend through the roof to see Jesus.  Just for those reading from Grace Church, I want you to know that you have a very versatile preacher and pastor in Jeff!  All day he demonstrated his ability to preach on-the-fly and to fit the situation perfectly and meaninfully.  You can tell that the Spirit was speaking through him to these guards and incarcerated men.

{I'm trying to NOT include everything due to the sheer amount of reading you'd be doing, but I have to include here that there were chickens and roosters in the prison yard, and I suspect they are for eggs for the prisoners to eat}.  

After the message from Jeff, Mike wrapped it in a call for men who need Jesus to come forward.  30 men came forward.

I wish I had photos of the prison and the men.  Unfortuanately, I was not allowed to bring my phone in.  An American couple staying here in the area, Jeff and Tasha, photographed the day for us and we hope to get some photos from them through Alene.

We returned to the hotel for more greetings, lunch, and reviewed the status of both a new church about to be built on prison land for the inmates and the community, as well as the half-way house project in Kericho that (I think) is the project Grace Church has supported with the gift for the land purchase.  Jeff and I can meet with the missions board and provide more details about both.

Heading back to the prison, time was spent seeing the site of the church, and hearing guard's testimonies as well as Jeff's final message of the day.  The vision of the CM and of the guards is incredible.  This project will impact not only the prison, but also the adjacent community.  (While we were on prison land hearing the proceedings, two young neighbor boys were spying curiously on us from a stump in a field across the fence.)

On the way back to Tenwek we stopped for a brief visit to the CM local office (pastor Wesley and team's).  The office was about 10' by 10', and we were urged to have tea.  As we were an hour behind schedule, Alene insisted that we couldn't stay, much to Wesley's disapointment at this refusal of hospitality.

Alfred's Story

Today we got to meet Alfred, an ex-prisoner who served 10 years for murder.  A very brief version of his story is that he became a believer in prison, and upon his return to society, faced a traditional cleansing ritual that involved the blood of goats before he could integrate into the community. He refused, as he was already covered by the blood of Christ. The CM team met with the elders and convinced them to allow a "Christian cleansing", and they agreed.  At the church service many curious villagers came to see this wierd-to-them ritual.  Alfred's father was the first to greet him, and he and the villagers have been reconciled, and the whole community is better for it now due to the contribution Alfred can make as a welder, which he learned in prison.  This is what the program and the halfway house ministry are about.

Sam's day

Sam is not a man of many words, but there are deep waters in his heart.  He was able to hook up with a long-term American missionary family, the Roberts', and spend the day with their three boys his age and the neighbor kids.  I didn't get much of a report, except that he was very muddy, the boys worked on a community service project (hosing the red mud off a sidewalk near a construction project at Tenwek), and I found him on the trampoline when I came to fetch him at 5:30.  Sam had left his wrist watch out on a nearby garden wall but it was gone when he went to get it.  That is a relatively inexpensive way to learn a lesson, but it was disappointing to him nonetheless.

The team spent dinner sharing with each other.  Mike gave installment number two of the pastor's conference sessions.  On the way over to that meeting, Sam and I discovered glow worms. We also saw flying glowing insects.  Someone reading can wikipedia that and tell us what the story is.  Here's a photo that doesn't do it justice.

We couldn't use the toilet in our apartment tonight due to a major clog and overflow issues in the apartment beneath us.  What a great way to meet your neighbors, however!  I'm really intrigued by the professionals and their families that come to Tenwek to treat, teach, and live; short term, regular (several times per year), or long term (until further notice--but on the order of many years).

Plan for Wednesday

Tomorrow, Amy will spend the day in scrubs, experiencing the nursing operations here at Tenwek.  Hazel will leave at 6:30am to get to Misumu to visit a women's ministry there.  The rest of us hope to see more of Tenwek and catch up on laundry, as well as catch our breath.