I remember the first time I walked into a prison. The starkness of the metal barriers; the churning of my stomach; the rigid security checks; the stares of the prisoners; the drabness of everything.
I’ve become accustomed to it now, after five years on the job, but this morning I get to accompany a new trainee chaplain on her first visit to a high-security prison, and I wonder if she feels the same nervousness I did.
We meet in the carpark at 8.30am, and begin the long process of physically getting inside the prison: through the main gate, past the x-ray machine, through the airlock and down to the movement-control office. We get held up there by a medical incident in one of the units, which means we’re unable to move anywhere until it’s resolved. This isn’t uncommon – working in a prison teaches patience, patience and patience! We eventually get to our ‘office’ and check the diary, and discover there are three people who want to see a chaplain today.
Before doing anything we always take the time to sit and pray – I learned long ago that incredible things can happen inside prison walls, but only if God is involved! As we talk and pray, a verse from my early morning devotion is really sticking in my head – in Isaiah 51:14 where it says ‘the cowering prisoners will soon be set free’. I know that chapter is about the Israelites in exile, but I still found myself praying “please Lord, let that be true of the people we meet today”.
As we finish praying and head out to meet the men who have asked to see us, we discover that one of them is actually in court today, so that’s a little disappointing. But the second guy is around, and after a brief chat with him about his situation we are able to provide him with the Bible and daily devotions guide he asks for, so that worked out great. Yet it’s our third and final request of the day that catches my heart.
We meet with a young man who is really down as he’s come back to prison for the umpteenth time due to his drug addiction. He tells us he is on psych medication, which helps him sleep at night, but that he still suffers from withdrawals. We listen to his story for a while and then he asks us why we come in as chaplains. His line of “Yeah, I’ve seen some guys in here get religion but, I dunno, it just isn’t for me” is a fairly standard response. But as we share some of our stories with him, and talk about finding hope and peace in Christ, he really comes alive and asks whether or not God can help him too. So we ask him if he would like us to pray with him about that. He says yes, so we quietly sit together around the table and pray. We are able to leave him with a New Testament and a daily reading guide, and plan to meet with him again next week.
The rest of my day, back in the office, involves lots of different things – sending emails, preparing a church presentation about the work of Inside/Out, dealing with security issues for my team of chaplains, etc. Prison chaplaincy involves a real mix of time with both people and paper! But I find I keep thinking back on the young guy from this morning.
After dealing with the mounds of administration that do somehow always seem to end up on my desk, I spend my last portion of the day simply praying for him. ‘The cowering prisoners will soon be set free’ – yes Lord, please let that be true for this man so bound by addiction and sin. Please give him the peace and hope in you that he’s asking for. Please set him free.
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