Eye Opening Experience-Edition 1

I was trying to think of some interesting way to write about this story, but I think that the story itself is interesting enough.

My thought have been kind of tied up with quadratics and the digestive system, so I haven't spent a lot of time writing in my head.

But, without further ado....

 Let me introduce to you Eye Opening Experiences-Edition 1-In Prison

Why was I in prison you ask?

Now if you read my mom's blog, you might not be super surprised but if you haven't then you may be a bit concerned

In Canada, prison is a place of big buildings with high fences and lots of barb wire. It is where you drive past on your way home from school and you see the big buildings and high security. You see the long lawn of big tall trees and a parking lot full of cars. 

In Uganda...well...prison is a small compound with a small wall around it. There is a wooden door with a bolt on it and there are guys with guns standing around outside. No barb wire. You can't quite see over the wall but, it wouldn't take much to climb over. Inside, it is a small courtyard, a couple brick buildings and a few small huts. There is the outdoor kitchen and a few trees. And there are people in yellow outfits.

A team from Alaska/Hawaii/a bunch of other places in the USA came to New Hope for two weeks. I had asked if I could tag along with them because they were going to go on medical outreaches. Some days there wasn't a spot for me in the van but on Saturday night, Uncle Steve (who is the guest house manager) came up to me and said, "Do you want to go on the prison ministry with the team tomorrow? You leave at 1." Well, I thought that this was maybe the only opportunity to go with the team and that it would be an interesting experience so on Sunday afternoon at 1 we all climbed onto the fourteen-seater and headed down the dirt road. I had only been past this prison once before as it is about 40 minutes from New Hope. 

When we arrived we met up with the prison ministry team from Kasana Community Church (New Hope's church) and waited around for the prison head guy to come out and tell us what we should do.

I knew some of the people from Kasana who were on the prison ministry team including our neighbour who is about my age so I stuck with her.

Now remember we are on African time here...and the prison wasn't prepared for our arrival...

so we waited outside for a while, talking and getting to know people (on a side note there was a lady who was born in Toronto and lived in Calgary just like I had which was kind of neat)

The prison ministry had brought a meal which one of the ladies had to test in front of people so to prove that it wasn't poisoned and she had to sign a piece of paper (I mean really, you can't go anywhere or do anything without getting a stamp or signing a letter...but that is another blog post entirely)

Finally, we went inside the building. I didn't really know what to expect and I had mentally prepared myself for the worst, but as I went inside I was kind of surprised. There were brick buildings and the place wasn't filthy. They were trying to grow some nice bushes. 

At first, I was very nervous about being inside a prison. I had never been in a prison before and people in prison were always very frightening to me. But one thing that I learned from that Sunday was that prisoners are people, who have made some terrible mistakes, but we should be willing to forgive them and not look down on them. I believe that some of those people in that prison were truly changed and that they truly believed in Jesus. Only God knows the heart, but I saw something that I wasn't expecting. 

The prison ministry led a church service and some of the prisoners there really were worshiping.

One funny thing that happened was during the singing time. The songs were all in Luganda but I knew most of them so I was singing along. Then, a lady who works at New Hope told me "You go up there and sing." So, I, the muzungu (white person) went up to the front with all the other Ugandans and started singing in Luganda. I could see the faces of some of the prisoners and the look on their faces were pure shock. A muzungu girl! Singing Luganda songs?!?!

Anyway, the time passed quickly. After singing, three of the prisoners gave testimonies and then a pastor from the American team went up and preached a sermon. Around 15-20 of the prisoners accepted Christ. After that we handed out food, vitamins and deworming pills and then it was time to head home.

To me this was an eye opening experience, because I saw people who weren't just prisoners but they were people and some even fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I could tell who had been in prison the longest because of their torn uniforms with ground in dirt. I got a large appreciation for all the people on the prison ministry here at Kasana for being willing to go to different prisons and serve. I saw that anyone's life can be changed and that people shouldn't be judged by their past. I have learned that I can never judge the heart but God is the only one who does. God is the perfect judge and He knows everything. Everyone will be accountable for his or her actions at the end of time.

I'm thankful that I got to go to the prison to see beyond myself and the small little world that I live in.