Your Kingdom Come

Prisons can be such violent places.  For prisoners it can take great skill to negotiate your way through your sentence without getting yourself in harm's way.  A balance needs to be struck between trying to be a peaceful and quiet prisoner, and at the same time standing up for yourself so that those who could take advantage of you don't.  A couple of weeks ago I sat with a prisoner who told me he didn't like who he was turning into.  He hated violence and fighting - and yet on a number of occasions had to resort to it, or at least the threat of it, just to protect himself.  And the problem with prisons is that for prisoners it is easy to get caught up in it by just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Two months ago a prisoner was slashed in the prison on his way back from a visit from his family.  It was a horrendous assault, requiring over a 100 stitches - and the prisoner nearly died due to blood loss and shock.  [It would seem that another prisoner had heard a rumour about this individual (which would now possibly seem to have been false) and decided to act upon it.]  There are of course issues for the prison as to how a blade was taken to and from visits, and how, even though a full search was undertaken of the area immediately after the incident, including full strip searches of all prisoners in the vicinity, no blade was ever recovered - so it's still out there somewhere!

But on Wednesday I sat with a prisoner who had been returning that day from a visit from his partner and child and who had witnessed the attack on his friend.  He was later interviewed by the CID and did "the right thing" - he told them what he had seen.  The alleged perpetrator was charged.  But now this 'witness' has been tagged a grass - and has been told to expect to be knifed too at some point soon - either by the initial attacker or by one of his "mates" (group loyalties are strong in prisons.)

The guy I was speaking to was trying to be brave, macho and philosophical.  I wasn't fooled for a second.  He hasn't been sleeping, eating or leaving his flat except to have visits - but given that this is where the initial incident took place, he doesn't exactly feel safe going there!  Once or twice his eyes all welled up.  It's his first sentence - and he's looking at a slashing or stabbing just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time - and doing "the right thing" as he saw it.  He's out in a few months - but it will be a long few months for him as he awaits his fate and tries to avoid it.

Prisons can be hard, hostile places of hatred and violence - it is never far below the surface.  A million miles away from the lives where most of us live - and far away from the Kingdom of God that I am called to bear witness to.  If you pray, pray for prisons - that in even these places "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." 

Pray for this lad's peace and protection, and pray for the mothers, partners and families of prisoners who lie awake at night fearing the worst.

Comments

[AnneDroid]

Powerful stuff.

I've linked to this post, btw. (Also I've emailed you about something else...)

[Sheena C]

What can one say? I can think of nothing adequate, so will simply pray as you ask.

[Graham]

Just for your information - it was felt that we as a prison could no longer guarantee this prisoner's safety - and it was therefore deemed too dangerous to keep this prisoner in the same prison as the alleged offender - and even although his family are local he has been transferred elsewhere in the country for his own protection.

[Sheena C]

An answer to prayer maybe?