Claire…ification-Blessings Inside Prison Walls

Last night I had the privilege of celebrating Christmas and breaking bread with a group of women at NCCIW (North Carolina Correctional Institute for Women) with about 30 other volunteers. We fed around 280 inmates and the staff and guards who work with them. My friend Sandi Velez, who runs a prison ministry called Bridges Puentes, whose tag line is “All People Matter to God”, arranged all of this. Sandi and her friends are in ministry in a number of prisons and detention centers and are working to help men and women overcome the barriers to reentry.

Sandi raised money, negotiated with restaurants to donate or greatly reduce the cost of the food and recruited the volunteers. She worked with the staff at NCCIW to make it possible for the women to enjoy a delicious meal, hear inspirational messages and enjoy entertainment. It was a joyful occasion and we all had a great time. Sandi invited me to offer the blessing for the food and all that I could think of was how it needed to be short because these women had been waiting a really long time and the food smelled great! I don’t really know what I said but the primary thing on my heart that I attempted to say to God in their presence was a recognition of the fact that all of the women in the room were of sacred worth, had a divine spark within them and had been created in God’s image and that each of us have value and purpose. And, that we were all grateful for the food and the time for fellowship and a hope that we could all find joy in the Christmas season.

As each woman came through the line to be served their meal, I thought about how each of them was someone’s daughter and granddaughter and many were likely someone’s mother, sister, niece or friend and how most of them would not be able to spend time with their family over the Christmas holidays. Each and every one of them was genuinely grateful and offered their thanks for the gift of food and fellowship. Many offered “Merry Christmas”, “God bless you” and other greetings and one young woman told me that it was the first time that she would not be with her family for Christmas. I wondered about the void that she and her family would likely feel by not being together. I was reminded of a couple of people I care about who have spent some time behind bars and thought about what their experiences may have been like.

I noticed how attentively these women paid attention to the speakers who offered them a word of encouragement and how much they appreciated and enjoyed the entertainment. They wanted to soak it all in. The finale of the program was when one of the inmates was invited to come up and sing. She sang an absolutely beautiful song a cappella that was a witness to her faith in God, and her sisters in the community enjoyed it as much as the volunteers did.

I noticed that the people who Sandi had recruited to serve the meal included some amazing women and men, a few who I knew beforehand and many who became new friends as we shared our common desire to be in ministry with these women who for this season of their life are behind bars. My hope and prayer is that during the remainder of this holiday season, as we celebrate and break bread, we will approach each meal, time of fellowship and celebration with the level of gratitude and appreciation that my sisters beyond the prison walls offered as a witness.

Peace and joy,