Mission Opportunities > Prison Ministry

Our prison ministry team

In April of 2003, we began ministering on a regular basis at the Youth Training Centre (YTC), which is the national prison for men aged 18 and under. We spend Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons each week from 1:30 – 3:30 teaching Bible class to the young men who are being held while they await trial (remand lads). We have seen a great number of these lads accept Christ or rededicate their lives to Him. We aren’t allowed to take pictures inside YTC; that’s why this page is mostly text.

Goals:

To share with the remand lads the good news of salvation through faith in Christ’s redemptive work on the cross and His victory over death.
To teach the remand lads how to read and write so that they can read the Bible and other books and function in society.
To build a strong and trusting relationship with the remand lads in order to build their confidence and self-esteem and to influence them to desire to live a life pleasing unto God.
To teach the remand lads what it means to live their lives for Christ once they have accepted His gift of forgiveness and eternal life.

How we go about trying to meet our goals:

Regular Class Days

The remand lads are separated into three dormitories of about 20-30 guys each. We spend one day every week with each group. Everyone has to come to our class whether he wants to or not, so we have very diverse classes made up of Hindus, Muslims, Catholics, Christians, and others. YTC has an extensive program of schooling, vocational training, and sports/extracurricular activities for the lads once they are convicted, but the boys in remand have no program, which is why the government allows us to come and spend time teaching them. Some of the lads we teach have been in remand for up to two years. Others are there for only a few days.

We begin each class with prayer. Then we pass back papers from the last week and start the new lesson. Each lad gets a print-out of the Bible text and we read through the text as a group. We define words and explain the context and elaborate on the text. We bring pictures and maps to help the lads understand the lesson. So far we have studied the gospel of John, the gospel of Mark, heroes of the faith, including Joseph, Daniel, and Paul, and we’ve looked in depth at the Christmas and Easter stories. No matter what lesson we are studying, we always work in the gospel message of salvation through faith in Christ’s death and resurrection, because there are always lads who are in our class only once before they get released or sentenced.

Once we’ve thoroughly discussed the lesson, the lads break into groups to do the questions we’ve prepared. Each lad gets a pencil and a sheet of questions to answer. We encourage the lads to write out their answers in complete sentences with proper grammar and correct spelling, which is a challenge for most of them, as many have dropped out of school or never even went to school. We notice that the young men who are better at reading and writing help out those who have more difficulty.

After the lads finish their lessons, we spend a lot of time just talking to them, asking questions about their families, their beliefs and their plans for the future. They ask us questions about Jesus and different religions and life in general. We have had many very meaningful discussions with the lads, and many of them ask us to pray with them.

Special Events

On special occasions we are able to get all three of our classes together in the gym. On these days we share dramas, music, testimonies and Bible lessons with the lads. These sessions often end with small group discussions. Sometimes we even get to play soccer or basketball with the guys. The lads have especially enjoyed a few concerts that we’ve had when we invited local Christian musical artists to come share their talents and words of wisdom with the young men.

Life, According to the Inmates at YTC

We’ve encouraged the young men at YTC to write letters or poems about their lives. Here are some excerpts from what a few of the lads wrote. Most of them haven’t done very well or gotten very far in school, but I haven’t edited their work. I have changed the names.

By “Darren”

“I am so frustrated I know I have to trust God and put my faith in him, but I hope things will work out. The only one could set me free is God Almighty. I will like too change my life, and accept God as my Lord and Saviour and to do the things the Lord will like me to do. I will like if you could say a little prayer for me pleace I am begging pleace.”

“To My Special Friend”- By “Sammy”

“This sends the warmest thank you note
That anyone can ever try to send
Because its intended for GOD my very Special Friend
Its to say ‘thank you’ for your kindness & blessings
All year through and to say that I’ll never have a friend
Quite like you, you were there through the good times
And bad, the happy times and the sad, the hard times
And the grim and when push came to shove you’re the
One who stretched out a limb, God you’re so loving so sweet
And so dear, that you deserve high praise each day of the year”

My Life - By “Hakim”

“My name is ‘Hakim.’ I am 19 years old and the story begins.I was only 13 years old, when I first started to rob. The first time I went to prison was on the 11th of November, I was then release on the 5th of July.

On that day I went to San Fernando where I started selling Cocaine. Several months later I came back to Port- of Spain where I started stealing again. Eventually I ended up back in prison on the 16th of June and was released on August 27th.

I was back in the game doing the same things I got locked up for and I was back in prison on September 16th. Since then I have been in here.

It was hard for me after finding out that my girlfriend had a baby boy for me. Now I ask myself these questions!

Why am I here? What would I do if I get another chance? How am I unique in life? Why should I live a life of crime, when good is over evil all the time.

What can I do to be a better person in life? Do you think serving Jesus Christ is the answer, or serving an idol god? Who is Jesus? Why should I want to hurt my brother just for vanity?

Is life worth living? Do you think being an outlaw is good? Is death an easy way out? What's your portfolio, philosophy towards life?

Do I want my son to turn out just like me? Does evil exist? Why should I live a life of evil? Does evil pay? What choice should I make? What do I want to achieve in life? Where should I start?

To me my whole is wasted and corrupted with evil. I wonder if I would ever come out of this life? This is all for now.”

*Note: Hakim was convicted and sentenced to three years shortly after discussing these and many other questions with me. I didn’t see him for a year, although I continued praying for him, and then recently he and the other convicted lads were able to attend a concert we held at YTC. He told me that he had accepted Christ a few months earlier. His entire demeanor was different…where I used to see only confusion, hatred and bitterness in his eyes, I saw peace.

By “James”

“Dear God, I am writing you this short letter to let you know how I am feeling in my heart and I hope you hear my cry, I am feeling as though I have no hope. But I pray in the morning, evening and before I sleep that you will hear my cry. God day and night I get to realize that there is a god and I pray that he forgive me for all the wrong I have done and to make me a better person in life, and to deliver me out this bad place. I also ask him to watch over my family and my loved once. Thank you God.”

By “Andrew”

“Dear Mom I am very sorry what I had done to hurt you But I had follow the wroung compenee at the wroung time But I am asking you to take me out of here. Mom now I had change my life over and I am asking God forgiveness for the sin I had done now I know that God forgives me now I am asking my family to forgive me, for all the wroung thing I had in my hole life and now I want to go back to school and learn my work over. I no I play the fool when I used to go to school but now I know hwo life go. Mom, jail is not nice for no one and when I come out I will not come back.

By “Wally”

“ Dear Urban Ministry I will like to thank you for what you all are doing for us. I am getting very wise about thing. I have been learning about God and the wonderful things he have done for me in my life, and I will like for you all to continue coming and teaching us about God and the wonderful kingdom he have in place for us. So please continue to come and help and teach us about God. I am very frustrated because no one comes to see my neither come in court for me thats why I am in here 2 years and some months. I really want to change and seek the Lords word.”