more on freedom

'Why don't they want to go to prison? Why are they sad?'

Dylan's question was prompted by Richard Scarry's 'The Great Pie Robbery' when at the end of the third story, the jewel thieves are put into prison. So we had a conversation about prisons and judges and why prisons are considered a punishment.

I was recently thinking about Jesus' words at the beginning of his ministry while driving to the prison for foreigners here in town. In Luke 4:18-19 it says:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

After moving to the capital almost a year ago we became involved in the ministry to this prison. There are about 110 men and women in this prison from Vietnam, China, Thailand, Myanmar and various African countries as well as the occasional inmate from a Western country. Most of the prisoners are drug offenders, some are in for fraud or other crimes.

The story of one lady is that she did not have money to pay the school fees for her children so she decided to go on a one - time drug run. It seemed like an easy way to make a lot of money. But of course she was caught and now faces 15 years in prison here without any real knowledge of who is taking care of her children or hope of a reduction of her prison term.

Once a week we bring a load of food to the prisoners. The prison does provide basic food for them but the family is expected to provide for all their other needs. But, as none of them have family here, we have become their family. Visits are allowed for 10 minutes once a month and it's amazing to see how much they are encouraged and look forward to these short visits. We try to help out as much as possible with medicine and other needed items but sadly, as in most cases, funding is not sufficient to meet every need.

It breaks my heart each time I bring food to the prison. It must be horrible in itself to face a prison term but being stuck in prison in a foreign country without anyone to advocate for you must be so much harder. At times prisoners wait for years before they are even put to trial. Many have no clue how the judicial system works and have no lawyers to fight their case. So they are left to the mercy of the prison wards.

But recently, one of the older ladies who started this ministry was telling me about a visit she had made to some of the inmates and what they had told her of an incident that had happened in the prison. Other inmates did not verify the story but rather contradicted it. At the end she said: " Well, we are dealing with criminals". So who do you trust?

I think it was the first time that it really hit me that, though the internment might be harsh and the circumstances horrible, the people inside the prison did do something wrong and are now receiving the punishment that this country deems appropriate for whichever crime they committed.

And I thought of Jesus' above mentioned words. I wonder what his listeners thought when they heard him say that he had come to bring freedom to the prisoners. Did they picture some poor individual who was stuck in a damp cell? Or were they filled with fear because they had an image of hundreds of thieves and murderers and rapists being released all at one time. Maybe some of them had been victims of crime and were angry about their offender being released from the punishment they deserved.

Previously, when I had read this passage, I only thought of the innocent prisoner. Those who are in jail for their faith. Those whose trial was somehow fluked. Those who did not have the means to adequately prove that they had not committed the wrong that they were accused of. I pictured some poor, lonely person sitting in a cold and clammy and dirty cell without anyone to defend them. But considering that most inmates are in prison for a reason, would I want Jesus to come and bring freedom?

But maybe his freedom is not just freedom in a physical sense. Maybe the freedom he wants to bring is freedom from guilt over the crime they have committed. Maybe it's the restoration that only he can bring as the 'black sheep' are reconciled with their families and friends. Maybe it's the sense of dignity and worth that comes as we receive his forgiveness. And maybe it's the freedom of knowing that he loves me and that he is my friend regardless of what I have done in the past.

Some of 'our' inmates have already been set free in the Jesus fashion. Most are still needing to hear that this just might be their 'year of the Lord's favor'!