Reaching out beyond the prison

The Catholic Prison Ministry Melaka organized a Formation on Sept 26, 2015 at the Church of St Theresa, facilitated by Benedict Savarimuthu and his wife, Teresa Sinapan.

Nov 06, 2015

MELAKA (Herald Malaysia): The Catholic Prison Ministry Melaka (CPMM) organized a Formation on Sept 26, 2015 at the Church of St Theresa, facilitated by Benedict Savarimuthu and his wife, Teresa Sinapan. This session was conducted for existing members and was also opened to the parishioners and friends as a “Recruitment Drive” for new membership.

Anthony Tan, Pro-tem Chairman thanked all the participants for their attendance and, especially, Benedict and his wife who are the pioneer members from the Catholic Prison Ministry, Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, for their willingness to come and share their experiences and expertise in regard to Prison and Drug matters.

Benedict explained that not all prisoners in the prison are guilty: some were cheated, some are victims of circumstances. You can find some of the nicest people in prison, but a moment of madness/one mistake and they pay the price all their lives. They regret their actions and all of them want a fresh start.

There are not only Malaysians in prison, many come from different countries – Myanmar, Africa, Vietnam, China, etc and they don’t have family members visiting them. When we visit them, we are the only ones from the outside and we become family. They treat you as pastors, because for them, you are God sent to bring the Good News/Word of Life. Their hunger and thirst for your presence each week can be seen in their expression, and you can see how important you are to them. Remember, most of the prisoners feel rejected or pushed away once they enter prison, thus, your presence is valued.

Their other dilemma is that their family members may shun them or their family members are rejected or treated badly by society. The children are already broken when their father or mother is in prison and now, their friends do not want to mix with them. The situation becomes even more desperate when the bread-winner is in prison, which means there is no income, no food, and even no education for the children.

The other group are the drug addicts. Often, their parents or spouses reject them, due to embarrassment. They feel there is no future once they leave prison or the drug centre. Our weekly visits can help them change their perception and give them hope.

The prisoners’ conversion start from the prison itself when they know there is a second chance for them. We are Christ’s representatives. The Pope has declared this year as the Year of Mercy, how appropriate the Prison Ministry is in this respect. We carry the voice of mercy: that God still loves them and there is mercy for them. Whatever we do for the prisoners is our love offering to God. The participants were told that if they joined the ministry, they would grow in their faith life and spirituality. They would be taught the art of communciation and how to handle different and difficult situations.

Developing counselling and motivation skills is a life-long process. No one method can be applied, for different people have different problems. There are many fertile hearts in prison, waiting to accept Christ. They could be Christians or Non-Christians who would like to start a new life with Christ. The seeds that we plant in prison will definitely be good seeds. One has to be sensitive when sharing with the inmates, for not all of them are Catholics.

Besides prison visits, the second aspect of Prison Ministry is visiting the Drug Rehabilitation Centres. These inmates, like those in the prisons, are also in need of God’s love and mercy. Methamphetamine is a white crystalline drug, commonly known as ICE. It first acts as a stimulant but then begins to systematically destroy the body and the memory, causing aggression and psychotic behaviour, resulting in heart and brain damage. It can be consumed by inhaling through the nose, smoking, injections or orally. A video clip on the Faces of Meth Time Lapse showed the devastating effects of this drug, the side effects are skin picking, skin crawling, tooth decay, hair loss, etc.

The third aspect of Prison Ministry is working with other organizations, namely, IHD, St Vincent de Paul Society and the Government agencies to help the affected families with rations, financial or material assistance. We also provide skills training, such as sewing, cooking, etc for wives/mothers and technical training for the children. The Prison Ministry is not just about visiting the prisoners, it also includes the care of their spouses, their children and also their parents. The Ministry also provides baby products for mothers who have their babies in prison, reading materials, such as the Bible, Spiritual articles, reading glasses, etc.

The fourth aspect of Prison Ministry is to organize Talks/Exhibitions on Drug Awareness & Crime Prevention to increase awareness of parishioners and the general public. The relevant authorities will give talks on the consequence of crime. Our youth are exposed to all these negative elements, and by getting our children to be more aware of the consequences of taking drugs, we hope it will prevent them from becoming victims.

There are about 80,000 prisoners in Malaysia and there are not many Prison Ministry volunteers. The number of inmates is increasing and, that is why there is a dire need for volunteers.

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