Society provides free Bibles for immigration centre detainees

SWINDON, England — The British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) has undertaken to provide free Bibles for people held at an immigration detention centre near Gatwick airport in southern England.

The centre, Tinsley House, is run on behalf of the Home Office by an American security firm. Housed in a large, modern building south of the airport, it bears many of the hallmarks of a prison, and even visitors are subject to stringent personal checks before they can enter.

Papers

More than 5,000 would-be immigrants pass through it each year and it holds up to 400 men, women and children at any one time. Most have been stopped at a port or airport because their papers were not in order or because the immigration service found their story unacceptable. Others may have been found to be staying in the country beyond the term of their visa.

Generally they have left their homes in other countries, their families and their first language because they fear for their own safety. Their detention in centres such as Tinsley House may last for months while their application is processed. Most are eventually sent home; a few are allowed to stay in Britain.

Frightened

For many, the society they have left is one to which spirituality is integral; many feel angry and bitter or, if the regime they fled is hostile, they are frightened of deportation and in their confusion they may well look to God, eager to hear his Word. For these reasons and others, the religious life of Tinsley House is flourishing: up to seven services are held in its chapel every day.

The centre is thus a place where people who in the past have rejected God come to faith for the first time, as the centre’s Senior Chaplain, the Rev Erik Lundberg, explains.

“God inspires them to take advantage of the time they have here,” he says. “People rediscover their faith; there are huge numbers who rededicate their lives to God.”

When that happens, they long for a Bible. The population of Tinsley House is inevitably a transitory one, however: a resident may commit his or her life to Christ on Sunday, be given a Bible and be gone by Monday. This is one reason why in the last few years the demand for Bibles has outstripped supply, and now the BFBS is committed to helping provide as many Scriptures as are needed.

“We respond to the demand for Bibles and they are thrilled,” says Mr Lundberg. “In 1996 the Gideons gave us our first batch: within a few months they were dog-eared and falling to bits – because they read them so much.”

Kumakamba: a face in the crowd ... Kumakamba Makengo fled Zaïre (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1994 and stayed in the UK, teaching Sunday school in London. He was detained last year and spent three months at the centre at Gatwick, where he was delighted to receive a Contemporary English Version Bible. “Thank you,” he said. “It’s very helpful – good for study and preaching.” He admits to getting depressed sometimes but says, “I’m much better as long as I pray and stay in the presence of the Lord.”

Praise

When the Bible Society responded to the initial request for Bibles last year, Lay Chaplain Stephen Fishpool wrote in praise of its quick response.

“These Bibles will make a great difference to the detainees here,” he said. “Many have never owned a Bible. Over the last five years or so a tremendous amount of people have become Christians. This still continues today and so these Bibles will go to many new and young believers.” (WR 366/9 - 1/2.02) [PHOTOS]

Based on an article in the BFBS publication Word in Action, Winter 2001 (see BFBS web site)