Prison Ministry

"I was in prison and you came to me..."- Matthew 25:36

When we arrived in Malaybalay back in October '12 we were adjusting back to our life in the Philippines. It was our return trip to this beautiful country but now to a different area and to a different mission. “What do You want from us here? How can we serve You, Lord?” The Romeros were already very busy with their own ministries and we had an idea that we were going to be moving to another part of town. They gave us a quick tour of the city and pointed out different areas where Father Vir had mentioned opportunities to serve.

Meeting the Warden and Neneng

Even while on Camiguin in 2011, I had always been drawn to the prisons. Not very much happened on the island and as far as seeing a jail there might have been one way on the opposite side of the island. Still the call to serve our brothers and sisters behind bars started there. One day the Romeros started to mention all of the requests for their presence as missionaries and the only one that I remember was at the City Jail. I prayed and prayed after our baby was born and we had moved to the new house if this was possible.
One day during the novena Masses before Christmas, we met a priest at our chapel. He was so welcoming and so eager to meet us after the Mass. When he found out about our family being here as missionaries he was super excited! Father Oliver immediately fell in love with us and we too felt a strong connection. We invited him over for lunch (which has turned into at least a monthly appointment) and shared with each other our testimonies. Then I mentioned that we were so eager to get started after Josephine’s birth. I mentioned how the prison had been on my heart in my daily prayer. He told us how he was very close to the diocesan prison ministry coordinator and that it would be better if she could go ahead of us to formally introduce us to the warden.
The very next day, a lady named Neneng came to see us. We were surprised to hear her travel plans just to meet us. She hopped on a ferry from another island, reached the port and took 2 buses to get to Malaybalay only to arrive at midnight! A 16-hour trip! That’s not all. She woke up at 6am to visit the warden to prepare him for our visit in a few hours. Neneng was thrilled to know that Americans actually wanted to visit the jail weekly. God was answering prayers all over the place

Ramon sharing a test

The whole family and Neneng jumped into a multicab and headed off to the city jail about 15 minutes away. As she and Stacie talked and I was going in and out of the conversation, my heart and mind were starting to focus on the prisoners. I started feeling the butterflies in my stomach move around thinking how this was actually happening. I’ve never been to a prison before and here I am about to offer my time to a real life warden! I then looked around the multicab and saw the kids just being kids. Before I could think “Wait! Why did we bring the kids? What if they see something that scares them badly?” we had arrived.
We met the warden and other guards as they led us on the tour of the grounds. It was totally different than what I was expecting. There was landscaping and tilled up grounds ready for planting. We could see the main cells coming up and that too surprised me. I was expecting a rowdy and dirty environment but we walked into a lot of clapping hands and shouts of “Good morning ma’am/ sir!” and happy smiles. There are about 5 to 6 cells for males and 1 for the women. The guys cells were very full and they looked cramped. Still, most were very happy to see us visit.
We returned after a few days to distribute care packs for the prisoners which we didn’t get to do for Christmas. The Eckstine Family was there and sang while the kids handed out the gifts. We also had a Mass which Father Oli celebrated in a separate quarter. It was a blessed time being united with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Since those initial visits I have been regularly visiting the detainees every Tuesday morning. Bryan, Ramon, Bebie, and some of the others from Isla Bonita come to help with translations, singing, and testimonies. One huge witness from my guests is that they see someone who they know and immediately brings a smile to their lonely faces. Please pray for me as I continue sharing my series of talks based on Dismas Ministry . This is an awesome ministry program set up for prisoners in the US. Because of the language barrier here I have to simplify to get the point across. My topics lately have been all about the sacraments. I encourage you to get involved in your diocese and visit our brothers and sisters and minister to them. Found on the Dismas website-  As one of them (inmates) wrote, “Prisoners need God and the love of Jesus and Mary as much or even more than the population as a whole.”

Joy translating

One “Glory Story” I had on one of my visits a few weeks ago was about an answered prayer. I was up late putting the final touches on my presentation when suddenly my phone started buzzing with new texts. “Sorry, Odilio, I cannot come to the jail with you tomorrow” was one and another said that they couldn’t go because of another schedule. Oh, no! These were my two good helpers and one was a very good translator. My slideshow was almost finished and it was too late to go back to SIMPLIFY more! I quickly prayed to God to just send my guardian angel ahead of me to help the inmates prepare for me so that they could understand. I promised that I wasn’t going to worry about it and I actually slept very peacefully that night. The next day I showed up with just my two boys and Bebie, our helper. I motioned to Bebie to come up front so that she could translate but she shyly refused. An awkward moment passed and then one of the female detainees shouted, “I will be the one! I would like to translate!” “AMEN!” I said. Joy came up and beautifully translated everything right down from my testimonies to my corny jokes. What a Godsend! Thank you, Lord, for Joy giving me joy! She even contributed her own personal testimony in front of her peers which I know was not easy because of her tears. She came up afterwards and asked to join my prison ministry when she is out in two years. “Of course,” I told her. “That is, unless I learn Visaya before then.”  

“But the Lord will allow those who repent to return to him. He always gives encouragement to those who are losing hope.” Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 17:24
                                        
               






Through a translator:
"We are happy when you visit us."
    -"How long has it been since you had a visitor?"
"2 years."   :(


I always ask the detainees to come up after a talk to share any feelings or testimonies. Joy translated once that they were all happy for my visit. "They can tell how much time and effort you put in to coming here every week."  :)


I forgot to mention a lot of details when I first posted this but here is one important part that should be stated. The Christmas care packs that we distributed included: toothbrush, toothpaste, laundry soap packs, and instant noodles, etc. The government does not supply the simple necessities and so recycle things for their own support. They will use old plastic soda bottles for artificial plants, empty instant coffee packs for belts, and other plastic wrappers for things like pencil holders and cell phone stands. Below are some samples:

This is a video of a song that the prisoners composed showing Jesus' love for them: