Lessons from Prison

Selfish reasons initially drew me to prison ministry. In 1975 I was into risk and adventure. When an ad appeared by way of a poster at my university asking for volunteers to meet with prison inmates at a local church once per week, I was there!
My immature “us-and-them” mentality quickly gave way to “Hey, these guys are us!” They had families, emotions, educated opinions, hopes and dreams, insight, and usually a great sense of humour.
One night sticks out in my mind as if it were yesterday. The night’s activity was a “Trust Walk.” We were divided into groups of two. One person was blindfolded while the other one led the more vulnerable one around the natural physical obstacles inside the church, as well as outside.
In our daring duo, I led first. My partner, Mark, was fairly tall, while I was (and still am) five feet nothing! At one point he asked me to slow down. “So you don’t trust me,” I quipped. And the challenge was on!
We came to a low doorframe, and guess who made it through and who bumped his head! At this point Mark slowly took off his blindfold and said, “I think your turn starts now.” Mark did a much better job of leading me around. He described the environment around us, told me the distance between objects and even stopped to let me feel them. He made sure I stayed safe. He also asked me about my faith and discussed his, wondering where he could get a Bible he could understand.
It’s now 2008. Inmates are no longer allowed out in groups to visit local churches during weeknights, but the question is still the same: “Do you have a Bible I can understand?” Thanks to LifeLight Ministries, I can answer with an enthusiastic “Yes!” In fact, if I walk up to a cell unit with five or more Scriptures, they are gone in less than sixty seconds! The female inmates I now minister to also ask me to deliver copies to their families on the outside.
The sad fact is that we do not have enough Bibles, but thanks to donations from people like you, we hope to obtain more easy-to-read Bibles soon. Thank you, LifeLight Ministries, for heeding God’s call to provide others with easy-to-read Scriptures.
Shon Louise McLaren
Shon has been involved in prison ministry in Ontario, Manitoba and the USA for more than thirty years. She and other staff from Inner City Women’s Ministries International Inc. offer Sunday worship services to female inmates at the Winnipeg Remand Centre and follow-up with Bibles studies/support after the inmates are released.