God at work in top security prison

NEW ZEALAND — The Bible Society in New Zealand works with chaplains in all 19 of the country’s prisons to supply Bibles to prisoners who show a genuine interest in receiving one. Around 2,000 Bibles were provided last year. Reports like the two that follow, supplied by a chaplain, show that this ministry is having a real impact on prisoners’ lives.

Bob: the cleaner ready for cleansing

Bob comes from the Far North. When he was born, his parents handed him into the care of his grandparents. At the age of 13, he moved with his grandparents from his rural home to inner city Auckland. It was like living on another planet!

Seeking acceptance, it was not long before he joined the King Cobras gang and became a senior member. Inevitably, crime and prison followed. He ended up in the notorious D block at Paremoremo, the country’s maximum-securityprison. There he was universally feared and respected.

A remarkable series of events followed. He came to the attention of a highly perceptive Catholic nun who, knowing that he would never agree to attend church, offered him the highly sought-after job of cleaning the prison chapel. He took it on, doing his best to make it take as long as possible every day. When nobody was around, he would read one of the Bible Society Bibles there. The nun would jokingly introduce him to visitors as the chapel cleaner who never came to church.

Some time later, he was talking with a fellow prisoner about other prisons. The conversation turned to Linton Prison. The other prisoner mentioned that this particular prison has a special unit for ‘people who want to change their lives’. This ignited a spark in Bob’s mind.

This spark became a flame when, one day, an officer came to Bob’s cell to ask him if he would like to be transferred to Linton Prison. He could hardly believe his ears! In all his prison career he’d never heard of a high security prisoner being transferred to Linton. After his transfer, he gladly accepted the chaplain’s invitation to attend a service. The cleaner was now ready for cleansing!

Long waiting list

He attended one service, then another. He was given a Bible and gradually, week by week, God’s Word began to change him. He was invited to consider making an application for the Alpha Unit, which provides a supportive environment for prisoners committed to the Principles, Values and Attitudes program run by the chaplain. He was warned, though, that there is a long waiting list to go into the Alpha Unit and that his high security rating might count against him. It could be several years before a place was found for him.

In the event, though, he did not even have time to fill in the application form. There was a knock at his door and, once again, an invitation to move, this time to the Alpha Unit. Nobody knows how this happened and, not long afterwards, bewildered administrators began asking why this dangerous prisoner had been admitted to the Alpha Unit. It was not the right place for his sort! Bob was almost ejected from the unit, but God’s hand prevailed. He is a trophy of God’s grace. Today he is a humble man, a sincere disciple of Christ. Everybody he meets sees that he glows with an inner light.

Ed: radiant and renewed

Ed is a leader among his fellow prisoners. They look up to him, not because he pushes himself forward, but because he shows integrity and openness. His face clearly displays his faith. The prison has ‘before and after’ photos of him. When he arrived, he was a hard, bitter and angry man. But now he is a completely different person. One of the volunteers left her purse in the chapel one night recently. He was cleaning there later and found it. He handed it in untouched, even though it contained a large amount in cash.

It was not always like this. Ed became a petty criminal at a very young age and later moved on to serious crime. He chose not to join a gang, however, because he did not want to share the proceeds of his crimes with others. Eventually he was given a life sentence and sent to Paramoremo maximum-security prison.

Recommendation

He went to the chapel once, just to see what it was like. He was not very impressed and did not go again. He was later transferred to Linton Prison and, like Bob, found himself in the Alpha Unit, despite his rejection of organised religious activity. Usually, prisoners only get into the Alpha Unit on the recommendation of the chaplain and after attending chapel regularly. Neither of these conditions applied to Ed.

There are often interesting characters in the Alpha Unit. One of them, Hemi, took a shine to Ed. Hemi loved God passionately. He danced in the chapel and prayed on his knees with his arms lifted high. Every morning, when the cell doors were unlocked, he headed for Ed’s cell and read the Scriptures to him. Ed did not welcome this attention and told Hemi so. But Hemi kept coming. One day, he left his Bible behind in Ed’s cell. Ed read it.

Eventually, God’s Word reached Ed’s heart. One night, just after lockdown, he knelt beside his bunk and offered himself to God. He says now that, at that moment, he felt forgiven, cleansed and renewed. A load had been lifted from him. He cried, on and off, for three days and nights. For two days he cried for his sins, and on the third day he cried for joy that he had been accepted. At first he did not want to tell anybody what had happened. He wanted to be sure that it was real. Eventually he did start telling people, and he is now radiant and renewed, a leader acknowledged by his fellow inmates, the chaplains and the staff.

More testimonies relating to the Bible Society in New Zealand’s prison ministry will appear in the next World Report. (WR 405/3 - 09/10.06)