Prison Ministry
Indian jails have hundreds of prisoners who have served their sentence or have gotten bail, but cannot afford the nominal closing and legal fees (about $100) in order to go home... and so they languish in jails - for months and even years. Loved ones at home suffer, the prisoner is totally demoralized... Society just forgets about them.
The opening words from Jesus were (Luke 4:18):... "to proclaim liberty to the captives..." This is a new arm of GNI in response to what Jesus said: " I was in prison and you visited me..." (and also from my own sojourn in prison).
It is a small beginning as we have seen 8 men go home. In the next few weeks, dozens more will go home from jails in Odisha. Pictured are 3 young men arrested for petty crimes and who would have rotted in jail for years after having got bail. (This is Dhenkanal jail... for 18 months, I was inside).
The joy in the faces of their impoverished families are memories I will carry forever. They are stunned and over-the-top grateful that someone would care. I am told that GNI is the FIRST organization to set a specific goal of getting men and women out of jail by paying for their bail costs. God has sent us a High-Court Lawyer with tremendous zeal, competence, and dedication to do this at no cost. I love it.
My goal: to see 500 prisoners go home this coming year. You can send a prisoner home for $100.
