Brief Background

This ministry was first started through a visit by the youth from WCF 1991/2 to the Westville Prison. Rev Kruger (the Prison Chaplain) interviewed them, and expressed how the prison needed visits from the churches. An appeal was made within WCF in a Sunday service, calling for people to come forward. The actual ministry then commenced about a year later, first of all with HIV positive prisoners, who in those days where placed in isolation in Medium A. From there the ministry has spread to what it is today.

One of the young people (Nigel Brankin - a social worker at the time) put pressure and encouraged the moving of juvenile prisoners out of the main prisons into the Youth Centre, ideal for the training and control of young people. This was accomplished and gave birth to the Juvenile Section of the prison.

Vision

The vision of the Prison Ministry is to bring the word of God to those who are in dark places. The prisoners need to learn what God would have for their lives - that they are precious in God's eyes and that He has a purpose and a plan for each and every one. Our desire is to reveal this to those who are languishing and have a very low esteem of themselves. In the same way - to build them up to a place where their own families and friends will see that God has done a wonderful thing in their lives; reconciling families to their fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, sons and daughters, and marriages restored - the very essence of our society that is divided, being made whole.

Further, a central component of the vision is the concept of Restorative Justice, which seeks to assist offenders to become responsible and accountable persons. Reconciliation, forgiveness and healing will be encouraged to grow between both victim and offender, and where prisoners will be able to step out into a new life in society, welcomed and accepted, and not rejected. It is to transform prisoners to become servants of the Most High and not the rejects and discarded ones of society - people who will be respected and be able to re-enter society with a knowledge of their self worth.

Ministry Activities

The proposed new church building just outside the Westville Prison grounds (see Property and Building), will be a place of worship that will be easily accessible to the prison warders, who will be able to hear the word of God preached. These are the men and women who will be at the forefront in taking and adopting a new attitude to the prisoners. This proposed building will be used during the week as a training and learning center, from where ex -prisoners will be taught certain life skills, so that they can learn a trade and thus become wage-earners and constructive contributors to society.

There is a team of people from WCF who go into the prison on various days of the week and into various sections of the prison, to minister to the prisoners in large groups, small groups and individually.