1/25/11
We pulled up to what simply looked like the city hall to Antipolo, a city near Manila, and parked in one of the three parking spots in the lot. It had a sign indicicating it was reserved for the warden. We came to a gate that was already open and walked up, each of us with a box, some had blankets and some had boxes of food that we were donating to the women at the prison on behalf of Kids International Ministry. It's interesting that the food was donated from Kids Against Hunger and the address said that it was based in New Hope, Minnesota on Boone Avenue, which is an avenue I have been on - it's interesting in the same way that it was to able to hand out clothing donated from the states to poor villages in Guatemala - watching donations from both ends.
We walked up about 20 stairs and came to another gate. The gate looked like the same gate that they have at Kids International Minisitries except there was a pad lock on the bottom that the guard unlocked when we showed up without us having to say anything. There was a small table when you first walk in where one of the female guards sits (all of the guards we saw in the prison were female and all of them were very petite). There was a notebook where we were required to write our name, age, and our signature. Then we were asked to hand over a cell phone or camera if we had one, but we were told if we wanted to take pictures we would simply have to ask.
Behind the tiny table, there was what looked like a kitchen/dining room. It was strange, there were curtains up on the windows and there were multi-colored plastic plates and it looked like a common area but there were bars on the sides to signify that it was a cell, even though both cell doors were open.
We walked down a tiny hallway lined with large garbage bags filled with goofy headbands - you know, like pink fuzzy bunny-ear headbands and other costume-looking ones. I noticed later that there were women sewing these together, and so I assumed this was their job in the jail and possibly a form of very little income.
Then we came to the main room. Many of the women were out and ready for the Bible study, bright eyed and excited to have visitors (some women shared with us that they have been here for years and they've never had a visitor besides "church people" who come to lead Bible studies). They set up a couple chairs for us to sit in the front. I shared my testimony the first day we went and several women started crying as I was talking.
We broke into smaller groups of about ten between the four missionaries, meaning there were about 40 women who showed up, which is a pretty good turn out considering there are about 70 female inmates at this prison. Only a handful of the women spoke fluent English so they helped translate during our small group times. All the women knew the words "prayer request" and most of the prayer requests simply involved the word "freedom."
Rolly (our contact at KIM who has a good relationship with the warden) told us that many of the women are in prison due to drugs. I can't remember what he said the most common drug of choice was called in Tagalog (the language here, which includes a fair amount of Spanish) but it seemed that it was comparable to crack cocaine. He also mentioned that many people smoke marijuana here and a lot of the street kids will sniff glue, called Rugby (since it only costs 5 pesos to get a plastic bag of glue, or close to 12 cents). Rolly also informed us that many of the women stay here in prison for years simply because they cannot afford to post bail.
I spoke with several women about the system and tried to get an understanding of it from their point of view. From what I gathered, it seems like the court will hear their cases two to three times a year and other than that it is a waiting game. It was hard to understand how the whole process works, but I'm pretty sure they are not told how much longer their sentence is, it's just that they simply wait until the next time they can be seen by the courts and they hope and pray for the best at that point.
We ended up going to the prison three times in total. The first time, we were warmly welcomed and while we left I gave many hugs. It got warmer and warmer each time we went and it was difficult to leave this last time. I gave a sermon the last time (today) on sheep and reinforced that the Good Shepherd will leave the flock of 99 to find that missing sheep and bring them back. One woman in Angie's group told her that she now knows she is loved and that God has been pursuing her.
Phil came with today. Phil happens to be the only other World Racer on my squad who is from Minnesota and I have had the privelge of spending this month of ministry with him. He was intending to go to a guitar shop with us on the way over and take a Jeepney back but the guitar shop was closed so he ended up staying with us. It was totally a God thing. He was able to reinforce to these women that there are good men out there that are worth waiting for and there are men that will love, honor, and cherish them for the beautiful, valuable women they are.
The atmosphere was really relaxed in this place. The sleeping quarters were right next to this main room and I looked in and saw several rows of bunk beds. At the end of the rows of beds, there was a TV set up which always had several women crouched around it who weren't invovled in the Bible study. Women seemed to be able to come and go as they pleased, from the living quarters, to the main area, to the kitchen.
The women were able to wear whatever type of pants but each day of the week had a specific colored shirt alotted for that day. We went on two Tuesdays (powder blue day) and one Friday (lime green day). I say that it seemed relaxed and I provide so many details on what it was like simply because I have worked at a jail for part of my internship for my master's degree and it was a lot different than this. I don't want to elaborate on jails in the states, but in comparison they are a lot more formal, organized and procedure-ized.
I felt like I was living out the call in Matthew 25, which was a big part of the call that I felt to come on the Race and I will leave you with that passage:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the gotas on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father: take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.
Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?
The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"
BEWARE: this section in the Bible ends with saying that whatever you didn't do for the least of these you didn't do for Christ.
DON'T ASSUME YOU'RE A SHEEP!
