Displaying items by tag: prison

In a notorious African prison, 166 death-row inmates existed in a state of despair; but a team of missionaries and medical professionals were undeterred, ready to offer both healthcare and the gospel. Believing in the transformative power of faith, they planned to preach and provide individual counselling during medical checks. They were driven by a conviction that even these forsaken souls deserved to hear the message of hope. As the Gospel was shared, hardened faces softened with tears, signalling an emotional and spiritual awakening among the inmates. This moment marked a shift from hopelessness to a glimmer of hope and understanding. The medical consultations became opportunities for inmates to personally embrace faith, with many choosing to commit to a new spiritual path. The next day, the prison warden observed a profound change. Inmates were deeply engaged in reading the Bible and discussing its teachings, transforming the prison's atmosphere to one of joy and community.

Praise God that Christian converts Homayoun and Sara have been acquitted and released from Evin Prison after being jailed in August 2022 for belonging to house churches, aka ‘crimes against national security’. Homayoun is particularly vulnerable, as he has Parkinson's.

The FBI search warrant of former president Donald Trump's Florida home authorised confiscation of every record he ever saw, read or created during his four years as commander-in-chief, right down to scribbles on a napkin. Democrats are asking for a damage assessment from the intelligence community on the eleven sets of classified documents recovered in the raid, including one marked ‘SCI’, a classification for some of the most sensitive national security information that is normally viewed in a highly secured location. A Trump lawyer signed a statement in June saying ‘all classified documents at Mar-a-Lago had been turned over to federal investigators’. On 14 August Trump’s lawyer claimed all investigations into ‘him will be dropped if he says he won’t run to be elected president in 2024. Later Trump’s office released a new defence statement: ‘As we can all relate to, everyone ends up having to bring home their work from time to time. American presidents are no different.'

Hundreds of prisoners escaped from the Kuje medium-security prison near Abuja due to an attack attributed to Boko Haram. Equipped with explosives, the attackers freed 600 of the 994 inmates and only about half of the escaped prisoners have been found. A large number of captured Boko Haram fighters were released in the attack. Armed extremist groups have been gaining power in Nigeria, with a lack of effective opposition from security forces and government officials. Boko Haram has maintained an insurgency in Northern Nigeria for thirteen years and displaced over 2.4 million people through violent attacks and threats. They have murdered tens of thousands of Christians and forcibly converted many others. Please pray for the end of their attacks, and for the Lord to soften the hearts of militants.

500 riot police officers entered a prison after a riot broke out at the facility, in the municipality of Cantel. At least seven prisoners were killed in the fight between rival gangs: most of them were beheaded. The prison, 125 miles from the capital, was built to house 500 inmates but has more than 2,000. Police sources told local media one of the inmates had ordered the attack on rival gang members in retaliation for the murder of his wife, who had been shot dead by two men on motorbikes hours earlier. According to the source, this man is serving a sentence for murder. Almost half of the roughly 3,500 violent deaths a year in Guatemala are carried out by gangs.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been sentenced to a further year in prison and a one-year travel ban after being found guilty of joining a London protest twelve years ago and speaking to the BBC Persian service. Her husband said she has not been taken to prison yet; she plans to appeal against the sentence. Mr Ratcliffe said, ‘The threat is there, and it is bigger than we were fearing. I think the worst case got a bit closer.’ He maintains that his wife was imprisoned as leverage for a debt owed by the UK over its failure to deliver tanks to Iran in 1979; also, her case may be caught up with the negotiations over limiting Iran's nuclear material enrichment. Her sentence may indicate that the Iranian regime is unhappy with the negotiations taking place in Vienna. Things could get worse for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other jailed dual nationals.

Many Christians in Iran are paying a high price for their faith in Jesus. They have lost jobs, homes or even custody of children. Some have been physically abused. Many are rejected by friends and family, and some are unjustly imprisoned in Iran’s notorious prison system. Prayer strengthens our brothers and sisters and reminds them that they are not forgotten. In a letter from prison, Pastor Farshid Fathi writes, ‘I sense the fragrance of your prayers as a cool breeze on my heart and it strengthens me from afar’. For the region’s Christians, SAT-7’s Persian TV channel presenters will also mark the New Year (Nowruz) festival on 20 March by highlighting the new life we have in Christ.

While working at an Afghan eye hospital, Dan took a fortnight’s trip to Iran which turned into a nine-week nightmare. He was falsely charged with spying and being a missionary and imprisoned in a small dark room, being interrogated and beaten by prison guards. Then he recalls, ‘As I lay on the ground, all of a sudden, the room fills with this glorious light. And I turned around to see what was going on, and there was Jesus. It was at that lowest point that He met me.’ Jesus provided strength to continue and even befriend the guards who beat him, and the courage to boldly proclaim his faith in front of his accusers and an Iranian judge. ‘I preached and told everyone who Jesus is and how much he loved them.’ Not long after he was released. He now trains people to serve in missions.

Freddie O’Neil grew up in care, was abused by the system as a child, and became an adult not knowing what God, family and love are. He is now a convicted rapist based in the secure John Howard Centre. He found Jesus in prison and immersed himself in the Gospel, but when he was transferred to the centre he realised there were no Sunday services or any Christian input during the week. He said, ‘I relied on this so much for my well-being that I raised the question, but they just laughed and ignored me.’ Friday prayers for Muslims happened every week, so he asked the Christian Legal Centre for support. After letters, discussions, and threats of court proceedings, all Christian patients at the centre now have a Sunday communion service, and the centre allows them to exercise their faith in Christ. See also the article on ‘Prisoners and faith communities’ in the UK section.

The Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact) is a Catholic charity providing support for prisoners and their families, by helping people make a fresh start and minimising the harm caused by imprisonment. It removes barriers between prisoners and the outside world, and influences policy and legislation in most prisons in England and Wales. In a bid to crack down on crime, Boris Johnson wants to create 10,000 extra prison places and end automatic early releases of prisoners before they finish their sentences. However Pact believes that the key for successful rehabilitation comes from connections with faith communities. It says the PM's solution is a plaster for a bullet wound: ‘If young people carry knives, because they're frightened and others are carrying knives, they're not going to stop carrying a knife, because the sentence is going to be longer. They’ll stop carrying a knife if they feel safe in their communities.’ See