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A Christian prison ministry that transforms ex-prisoners’ lives
Ex-convicts slaughter a cow in preparation for a party thrown for them by Faith in Action, a local Pentecostal church based in Kawempe.
What you need to know:
Most ex-convicts are shunned by family and friends, but thanks to the intervention of evangelists, their life has regained purpose and meaning, writes Ephraim Kasozi
Life for a prisoner who has just been remanded is usually hard but many adapt to it to serve their sentence. However, there is a tendency for family members and friends to abandon and disassociate themselves from convicts, making them live a life of neglect and hopelessness.
Because of lack of comfort from family members, who in this case never visit them, prisoners are left to console each other through sharing life experiences and the gospel. Former inmates say life in prison becomes easier with the intervention of preachers and evangelists, who pray with them to renew their souls. “When there is no intervention to help such people, many end up engaging in crime again,” they say.
“Upon release, depending on the time spent in detention, the community rejects us and in most cases, we find our property missing,” says Vincent Kalule, a former inmate. Kalule says it’s worse for married convicts because their wives usually desert the home and their families end up disintegrated.
This is why Faith in Action, a local Pentecostal church based in Kawempe started the Joint Christian Prison Ministries (JCPM) to help the community gain confidence in former prisoners and create a channel through which inmates can be reintegrated to their communities.
Kalule and his younger brother, Emmanuel Kalule, who both spent eight years (2001-2009) in prison on murder charges, say that although they suffered there, life after release was not easy, “But we and a few others have been lucky to be adopted and embraced by the church, which has changed our lives. I am now a gospel singer and get some income from this.”
“During detention, I didn’t see any one from my family until I met preachers led by Pastor Robert Kateregga, who started visiting us regularly. Upon coming back, I found all my property distributed by people of ill-motive, who evicted my family from my house as though I was dead,” Kalule recalls.
Kalule however says that his trust in God has strengthened him and that he has since learned that no condition is permanent where there is life.
“I am strong and determined, but some from my church group fear to gather in public, while others feel rejected and lack confidence,” says Kalule, who survives with assistance from the church.
“Life after prison has not been easy; I cried a lot because I felt hopeless seeing my children drop out of school, doing hard manual labour without a permanent residence. Now I have hope, thanks to the church,” he adds.
Kateregga says the church ministry aims at restoring hope and equipping ex-prisoners with spiritual and material support to reduce crime in society. Kateregga says the church goes out to various prison facilities to preach the gospel, linking prisoners to their relatives.
The pastor testifies that many prisoners have come out to confess their wrongdoings to the church, something security agencies and investigators have failed to accomplish. “Many are willing to surrender their old foes but there is still no assurance whether they can be forgiven,” Kateregga adds.
Pastor Kateregga, an ex-prisoner recalls that he got the inspiration upon receiving a gospel word from some preachers who used to visit a prison cell where he spent a three year sentence.
“I was a businessman working abroad but I got problems and I was brought and prosecuted. I was sentenced to a jail term and spent time without hearing from my relatives.”
He says that once they are released, the ex-prisoners are taken through a resettlement process which involves going through a reformatory centre, skills development, placement for work and saving for investment.
“After accumulating money, when they are able to survive sustainably, we help them trace their homes and reach their home again and there we still help them to strengthen their spiritual being as they settle,” says Kateregga.
He says that currently the church lacks transport to reach countrywide prison facilities to preach the gospel.
“We are planning to construct a permanent modern facility as a reformatory centre but we lack space (land) where to construct it. We don’t have a stable income to cater the ever growing number of ex-prisoners,” he laments.
Pastor Kateregga says they are seeking to set up permanent structures but appeal to development partners to facilitate the work of the mission, which operates in Soroti, Mbarara, Gulu and Jinja among other areas.
