Orphans and Prisoners
St Stephen's Day Pastoral Visits
James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Matthew 25:34-36 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.
I'm writing this article to you on the feast of Saint Stephen, the 26th of December. This morning, as the new Bishop of Mahajanga, I had the heart-wrenching experience of visiting two orphanages. The first orphanage was very poor. There are some thirty children living in heartbreaking poverty, though they are cared for by devoted staff. We went to bring Christmas greeting to the children and the staff, and to encourage them. Before I prayed with the orphans, I asked if we could sing a Christmas carol together. I will attach to this article the video of them singing Feliz Navidad - We wish you a Merry Christmas! In most cases these are children whose parents have died, but some of them were simply left at the orphanage by their parents because they could no longer afford to provide for them.
Then we visited another orphanage in a building donated by the Greek Orthodox Church. This was a beautiful facility, where the children live in a much more appropriate setting. I prayed with the children, and they sang “Oh Holy Night”. I managed by God's grace to refrain myself from crying in both orphanages. I was moved by the presence of the Lord ‘inhabiting the praises’ of these very poor, orphaned children. I sensed, in a very deep way, that the Holy Spirit was present to them and through them to me, their Bishop. However, at the same time, my heart was breaking for the situation in which they live.
We left the second orphanage to visit the penitentiary. I was very pleased to find that the warden in charge of the 1200 inmates is a Christian. The Vicar-General, Rev’d. Gaston, who was with me, introduced us to the warden. I was moved when the warden said that he is trying to be a vicar to the inmates! I prayed with him that he would indeed have a strong Christian influence on the inmates. We offered to come alongside him, and his other staff, as he sought to do so. We prayed that the Lord Jesus would be present to forgive, heal, restore, and set free those incarcerated. We prayed that Jesus would set them on the right path, and that they would, like the prodigal son, come to their senses, and repent, be forgiven, and seek to make amends.
I was taken to three different sections of the penitentiary. The first section was for young men, 16 to 25 years old. I brought them Christmas greetings, then prayed with them that God would be at work in their lives and that they would surrender their lives to the Lord Jesus. Then the warden brought us to the section of the prison where older men were kept. The courtyard was overcrowded with men, seeking shade from the 36° heat and the open sunshine from the only covering available - a ragged curtain propped up on sticks. I brought them a word of encouragement. I was most impressed with Rev’d. Gaston, who has an extraordinary gift for prison ministry – unafraid by the situation, unshaken by the sights and smells, and non-judgmental towards the inmates. The Holy Spirit spoke to these men through Rev’d. Gaston. Before we left, an inmate asked if he could speak. He thanked us for visiting and for not forgetting about them as prisoners. I said that we visit because the love of Christ compels us. I told the prisoners that we came to visit because Christ loves us, has forgiven us, has saved us, and so we want to share this love with them.
As difficult as the day had been up to this point, nothing could prepare me, nor Sarah - my wife, for the sites that we would see when we went to visit that part of the prison reserved for women. That section of the penitentiary is built to house a maximum of 40 women, but currently 110 women are incarcerated. The overcrowding is unbelievable, with hardly enough space to walk around. They sleep, like the men, on concrete floors without beds. Amongst the extreme overcrowding, were children incarcerated with their mothers. I prayed with the women, but then purposefully prayed with each of the children. I cannot imagine their earliest memories. I have never seen such a heart-breaking scene. The image of a child’s bed – a small stuffed toy, lying on thin blanket, covering the concrete floor will never leave my mind.
As you read this, I ask you to do two simple things. Please take a moment to give thanks to God for the blessings that he has freely bestowed upon you - especially given that most of you will read this in North America. We so often complain about what we don't have and miss what we do have.
Please also, in your charity, pray for us. Pray that we might know how best to address these extraordinary needs. Today is the Commemoration of Blessed Steven – the first Christian martyr. He died for his faith in Jesus. He is the first one to exemplify the call of every Christian to ‘take up our cross’ and follow Jesus. The Lord Jesus has asked us, Sarah, Chase and me, to take up his cross and follow him to Mahajanga. Pray for the needs of these people as we are heart-broken for the dear souls we visited today. We are not deterred, nor discouraged, as there were many moments today where we saw Jesus at work – in the older children in the orphanage as they played with the younger children, in the devoted staff at the orphanages, in Rev’d. Gaston as he came along the inmates, in the prison warden as he prays for the inmates, in the male inmate that spoke in thanks, and in the Nuns that help care for the children incarnated with their mothers.