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PART ONE
I awakened to the sound of raindrops striking the tin roof of our home. “Oh Lord,” I groaned. “It's raining again. How are we supposed to minister to the prisoners in the Bomet Prison if it is raining! Lord, do you want us to visit the Bomet prison today? Did I hear your voice correctly when we set this date for our visit?”
I must back up and tell you how we reached the decision to visit the Bomet prison in the first place. In September 2004, I was staying in a hotel in Ethiopia on business when a thought entered my mind. Is anyone doing any kind of ministry outreach to the prisoners at our local prison in Bomet? Later that day I asked this question of Andrew, one of my Kenyan colleagues who was traveling with me. Andrew did not know the answer to my question.
A few weeks later, Andrew and I were attending a prayer meeting. During that meeting, Dolly, one of our nursing supervisors within the hospital, gave us a prayer request that captured my attention. Dolly shared with the group that the Social Director from the local prison had visited Tenwek Hospital that morning and asked the hospital to send someone to the prison to provide HIV/AIDS counseling and testing for the prisoners. Andrew, who was sitting beside me, poked me in the ribs with his elbow and smiled. Wasn't this the providential opening that God had already planted in my mind when I was in Ethiopia ?
I wish that I could say that I immediately jumped at this opportunity, but I confess that my other duties quickly swallowed my time and attention. In August 2005, I attended a Vision Conference in Kericho where I heard about “seed projects.” A seed project is a small project by a local church to demonstrate the love of Christ. During the conference, we gathered in small groups to discuss a seed project appropriate to each of our communities. I knew what God was saying to me: “Why don't we reach out to the Bomet prison?” I shared this idea with our group from Tenwek, and they agreed to make the local prison our “seed project.”
This was our plan. One of Tenwek's HIV/AIDS counselors would speak to the prisoners as a group about HIV/AIDS. After a 30-40 minute presentation, we would then invite as many men as desired to go to a private area of the prison for HIV testing. Other members of our group would challenge the prisoners to a volley ball game to keep them entertained while the HIV testing was occurring. After the volley ball game, the Bomet Africa Gospel Church ( AGC ) would provide each prisoner with a cup of tea and a chapati (a flat piece of baked bread). We planned our “seed project” for Saturday afternoon, October 22, 2005 .
The interval planning between August and October went well. The local prison officer-in-charge endorsed the plan wholeheartedly. One of the local church leaders solicited the support of the Bomet AGC Church to make the tea and chapatis. David Bett, one of our Tenwek nurses and a trained HIV/AIDS counselor agreed to make the initial presentation about HIV/AIDS. I found 2 other HIV/AIDS counselors to do the HIV testing. A group of local church members and staff members from Tenwek Hospital organized a team to play volleyball with the prisoners. One member of the planning committee bought a new net and volleyball to donate to the prison.
During the week preceding our visit, I felt a little uneasy. It rained every afternoon that week. I asked myself, “What will we do if it is raining on Saturday afternoon? Do we go ahead, even if it means playing volleyball in the rain?” This was on my mind when I heard the fall of raindrops upon my tin roof on Saturday morning. I prayed and asked God what he was trying to tell us.
We planned to leave Tenwek and assemble at the Bomet AGC Church for group prayer. The prison expected us to arrive at 2:00 pm . Around 1:00 PM , the cloud cover broke and the sun beamed upon us. All around us we saw clouds and rain, but the sky remained clear over the prison for nearly our entire visit to the prison. We had 2 or 3 minutes of rain “sprinkles” around 4:30 pm , but it never interfered with the activities of the afternoon. I even received a small “sun burn” on my face that afternoon!
It was a great afternoon! Approximately 20 people accompanied us on our visit to the prison. David Bett spoke for 30 minutes on basic information about HIV. Ninety-five prisoners listened intently as they sat as a group on the ground. We began the volleyball game while David and the other 2 HIV/AIDS counselors sat in 3 corners of a large open room where individual prisoners sat to be tested for HIV. I stood at the doorway of the room and directed individual prisoners to each open testing station. To my surprise, the men eagerly formed a line outside of the door to be tested.
Our 3 HIV/AIDS counselors tested 17 men in 1? hours! We could have tested many more men, but we simply ran out of time. When we announced that we had to stop the testing, approximately 15-20 men turned aside with great disappointment. Some came to me at the door and begged me “Test me, please, test me!” We have since made arrangements for someone else to visit the prison for periodic HIV counseling and testing.
While standing at the door where the HIV testing was occurring, I had the opportunity to observe the volleyball game. It was spirited and competitive. The Tenwek team and the prison team played 5 games. The Tenwek team lost every game! One of the Tenwek team members told me that they were “holding back” to avoid discouraging the prison team. The guards at the prison told me that Tenwek was playing the “B team,” the prison's 2 nd best team, so I don't think that Tenwek had a valid excuse for losing!
After the games had ended, the men assembled for their cup of tea and chapati. Their excitement was obvious as they hungrily devoured their chapatis. Men muttered “thank you” to our group as they passed us with a chapati in their mouths. The officer-in-charge told us that chapatis are a great treat since many of the men have not tasted one during the one or two years of their prison sentences.
We concluded the afternoon with the men once more assembled as a group, sitting upon the ground. One of our pastors gave a brief Gospel message and more than 30 men raised their hands for prayer at the conclusion of the message.
I was amazed by the impact of this “seed project,” not only upon the prisoners, but upon our visiting team members as well. Each person who visited the prison sensed God's presence and blessing.
What did I learn from this event?
• God will guide us in ministry if we will only listen to his voice.
• God uses holistic ministry (health care teaching, social interaction through competitive games, and even a piece of bread) to bring men to Himself!
• There are many ways to express the love of Christ to others!
• God desires us to be obedient to Him. He will take care of the circumstances-even the weather!
• There is no greater sense of joy or satisfaction than serving God wherever He may put us!
PART TWO
I am convinced that a “seed project” is an excellent method of demonstrating the love of Christ before a watching world. In December 2005, I had the privilege of working with our local church fellowship in another “seed project” to the local prison in Bomet.
Several of us visited the local prison in October and saw the needs and opportunities that were open to us. Although the local officials are trying to provide humane treatment for the prisoners, their resources are limited. I remember my thoughts and reaction when I looked into two large open rooms where approximately 100 men sleep on cement floors without beds or even the benefit of a mattress. I asked myself, “Should I be concerned about this problem?”
In December I volunteered to be the worship leader for our local church fellowship. I asked God to give us something to do that would help us focus upon others (and not just ourselves) during this festive holiday season. God reminded me of the men in the local prison who sleep on thin blankets on a cement floor every night. I approached our church's lay leader, Philip Towett, and asked him if he thought that our fellowship would support a project of providing the local prison with simple foam mattresses. Philip wholeheartedly endorsed the idea. I asked Philip how many mattresses did he think our fellowship could provide for the prison. Philip suggested a total of 70. I was hoping that we could provide 100 mattresses, but I had my doubts.
I called the prison to ask them if they still needed mattresses for the men. The officer-in-charge told me emphatically “yes!” At that point, he had 120 inmates, but he had only 15 mattresses. I told the officer that I didn't know what would happen, but I told him we were praying about the situation.
On the following Sunday, the project was presented to our congregation. Our church responded to the challenge. During each Sunday of the Advent season, members of our fellowship brought their “beds to church.” They would bring 1, 2, or more mattresses to the service and place them near the front of the room as a “love offering” to God and for the men whom God loves. On Christmas Sunday, the offering was dedicated to buying more mattresses, in addition to the ones that were brought to the service.
Someone suggested that we should label the mattresses for the prison. We enlisted the help of some of our local youth to do this. Four or five teens spent hours cutting out stencils that could be placed on each mattress and painted to label each mattress. Other teens helped with the painting. Students from the Tenwek School of Nursing also volunteered to paint and label additional mattresses that the teens had not done.
The day arrived for a group from our church to deliver the mattresses. They loaded a trailer pulled by a tractor with 66 mattresses collected during the December services. A local merchant delivered directly to the prison 50 additional mattresses that were bought with the KSh 25,000 (US$ 357) collected from the Christmas Day offering. In total, our church provided 116 mattresses to the prison. Other groups (the Tenwek Christian Union and the Tenwek School of Nursing) also heard about the project and contributed 19 new blankets to accompany the mattresses. One of the local merchants who sold mattresses even gave us a bag of sugar for the prisoners' tea!
On the day of the delivery, the prison contained 71 prisoners (some had been released prior to Christmas). Prisoners, guards, and the officers-in-charge were elated with the arrival of the mattresses. The prisoners helped us unload the trailer and stack the mattresses in one location. Excitement showed on their faces as they thanked us repeatedly for our love and concern. Prison officers found it hard to believe that a local church would be willing to do this act of kindness. The officer-in-charge told us of the 40,000 prisoners currently staying within the Kenyan prison system, although the system was built to accommodate only 14,000 inmates. He then exclaimed, “I can hardly wait to tell my supervisor that I am at the only prison in Kenya that has extra mattresses in my storeroom!”
After the customary greetings and speeches, the prison asked the inmates to form a line, and each member of our visiting group then picked a mattress and presented it personally to each inmate. Their faces beamed with smiles. The guards then distributed sodas to prisoners and visitors in celebration of the event.
As we prepared to leave, we laughed when we saw the men placing their mattresses on the ground in order to lie on them immediately. I commented to the officer-in-charge, “I don't think that you will have to feed the men supper tonight. They look like they are eager to go to bed, even though it is only 4:00 in the afternoon!” I am certain that night was the best night of sleep that some of those men have had in a long time!
As I drove home, I commented to my wife Debbie, “There is one more thing that would make this day perfect! I wish that God would send us some rain!” We were experiencing dry weather conditions at that time. The Kipsigis people believe that the arrival of rain is a sign of God's blessing. That evening, tears filled my eyes when I heard the sound of a gentle rain striking the tin roof of our house! It was a sign of God's approval and love! |
