| Letters from my brothers |
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I received thirty letters from prisoners yesterday. Not unusual for me. They all came from a maximum security prison in Zambia, though two of the guys are from Tanzania. Some have written before, many are new. They are open about why they are in prison. Then they add "But that was before I knew Jesus." Many struggle with severe illnesses, like AIDS, TB, diabetes. In Zambia there is no National Health programme like here. If you can't pay you don't get medication. Many die young because they are poor. Some guys I write to have already buried two wives, though they are only in their 30s or 40s. Some guys I've written to over the years have died from AIDS, or AIDS related illnesses, only in their 20s or 30s.
They share their worries about their families. There is no kind of support if you can't work or your husband is in prison. The children can't go to school if the parents can't pay for uniforms, lifts, tuition, books. Often the children end up on the streets.Sometimes wives and daughters end up as prostitutes because it's the only way to survive.
The prisoners themselves lack food and clothing, toiletries etc, unless they have relatives who can provide it. Since most are poor and Zambia is a big country, most of them never have visitors. They tell me how much a letter means to them. It's like having someone visit them, they say.
I'm unable to help with material and medical needs, but I try to refer them to people who can. I can pray for them and write to them, and I send them anointed prayer cloths when they are ill. I also send red plastic crosses, which they wear with pride. They call their group Maximum Praise, because they're in a maximum prison.
They all say they are praying for me. I feel really touched that these guys, who have so much to battle with, take the time to do that. And they have asked for art materials, so they can paint Christmas cards for me.
Some local pastors work incredibly hard to try to help these guys.They don't have the income and the resources that a pastor would have here, and they usually have a big family to support. Few have a car. Some are old and ill, but still serving the Lord in this way. One I know was shot down on the street on his way home. He was 38 years old and left a wife and five children behind. There is no child benefit or widow's pension, or anything else. The widow is trying to support her family by selling vegetables, but it's not enough.
A lot of the prisoners are inside because they couldn't find work and committed a crime to support their family. Women do it, too, there is a women's prison near by, and lots of children are there with their mothers.
It's a life very different to how most of us in the west live, and hard to really understand. But I am glad God knows them and loves them, and that He is at work amongst them. Without Him they would have no hope at all.
It will take me a while to reply to all those letters, and pray for them all, but I'm looking forward to this fellowship with my brothers and am glad to be able to do just a little to brighten their lives. I have been writing to prisoners since 2001, and it has been amazing to see what God is doing in prisons these days, how He's changing lives and building His church behind the bars, and against many odds.I praise Him for that.
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