FPC-Midland Belize Mission: Inside

From November 8th through the 15th, 2014, a team from 1st Presbyterian Church-Midland will be traveling to the Central American country of Belize, and working with The Word at Work ministry. This will be an opportunity to reach out and share the gospel with the people of Belize while working side-by-side with the local community and The Word at Work staff on a much-needed construction project ... all of this building upon a foundation of relationships that was laid early this year.

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Inside ...

While our primary focus remains our relationship with the people of Seven Miles / El Progresso, and the construction of a home for one of them, we are also exploring other mission opportunities in this nation, with the help of Tim Tam and his Word At Work staff.Today, one part of our team was exploring those opportunities, while the rest of our team returned to the village for another day of service at the home construction site.

Which led to some of us starting the day having identification checked, then being searched before entering Belize Central Prison ... this nation's single facility for the incarceration of convicted criminals (both men and women, adults and juveniles), as well as those being held 'on remand' pending the disposition of their cases in court.
 
Once we were inside, we were greeted by John Woods ... perhaps the most unique prison warden in the world.
 

As is the case for such institutions in many countries around the world, the prison is part of the government ... but it is not operated by the government. Once upon a time, it was ... and stories of that time portray conditions as more than 'not-so-good,' but downright terrible ... from feeding to sanitation, from incidents of injury and death among inmates to an unacceptably high recidivism rate among those released from the institution.

It is then that the Belizean government took a step that has made the institution one-of-a-kind. Sure, there are plenty of prisons out there operated for the government by private, for-profit corporations ... but how many out there are operated by a non-profit, Christian-based foundation? The prison is still the property of the Belizian national government, but it is Kolbe Foundation - and NOT a branch of the civil service - that is in charge of Belize Central Prison and its operation.
 
The foundation's website tells us, "Kolbe Foundation is the first of its kind: a non-profit, non-government organization managing the prison system of Belize with a unique approach of rehabilitating each inmate. The results are changed mindsets, productive livelihoods, and reduced crime. All prisoners, through rigorous proven methods, are ultimately provided with things they never had before: counseling, education, hope ... and a fighting chance. Kolbe believes that it’s better for society, an inmate released who has been through life-changing programs, than one who would have been criminally smarter. Prison has a captured audience, rather than sit in a cell doing nothing, inmates have the opportunity to participate in Programs that can genuinely change their lives."

The bottom line for the Kolbe Foundation is not meeting at least minimum standards while seeking maximum profits. Rather, their bottom line can be found in their vision statement ... "To provide a Secure, Humane Facility geared towards Meaningful Rehabilitation and Successful Re-Integration."
 
It's a vision Woods and his staff continue to pursue ... and they continue to look for better ways to pursue that vision ... ways to better serve, not their stockholders, but the inmates who have been placed in their charge. That includes an ongoing search for updating technology that increases efficiency, and reduces expenses and staff time ... which can then be applied to other services at the prison.

For example, what can be done about the inmates that are being held on remand pending their trials, and the disposition of the charges facing them? Unlike Texas, and elsewhere in the United States, there are no city or county jails in Belize ... some community police stations may have a secure room or cell for holding a prisoner temporarily, but that's it ... so everybody goes to BCP. When a prisoner being held on remand is scheduled to attend a hearing, he/she must be transported (in the custody of a pair of guards) to the community where the charge was presented, then returned to BCP at the conclusion of the hearing  ... and that can take many, many hours.

So, what about hearings conducted remotely by video? If approved, the idea could save a LOT of time and money - staff hours, wear-and-tear on a vehicle, gasoline (which costs twice as much in Belize as it does in Texas) - all of which could then go into other areas of prison operations.
 
That's just one example.

Touring the facility with Woods were Word At Work's Tim Tam, Pastor Walter Thompson, myself, Dr. Greg Bartha and Harold Howard, who has been active with the Kairos Prison Ministry in West Texas, ministering at Texas Department of Criminal Justice (Institutional Division) facilities in Fort Stockton, Texas. Our tour of the Belize facility touched upon a number of areas where improvements have taken place or are now in process.

These improvements have been made possible by contributions from a number of concerned individuals and organization, including our Belize mission partner, The Word At Work ... and by the commitment and the hard work of Woods and his staff.

One of these is the Jeremiah 33:3 radio station that has replaced the traditional loudspeaker system (like the one in the film "Shawshank Redemption"). Jeremiah 33:3's programming includes a wide variety of education, information and entertainment programs, in addition to plenty of music in a variety of genres that appeal to the cultural diversity of this nation, and its prison population. The station also plays requests from the inmates, so long as they have a positive tone/message - which is a requirement for all of the station's programming. Jeremiah also provides a venue for inmates to perform and broadcast their own compositions.

The medical facility is a work-in-progress. While they already address a number of the inmates' medical needs, they'd like to do more. More equipment would allow medical staff to address more needs, and reduce the number of inmates that have to be transported to Belize City for medical care ... a process that poses the same challenges to staff, equipment and expenses as the transports for hearings.

As for the inmates themselves, what could be done to reduce the possibility of their returning to the facility once they have served their sentence and been released? Woods and his staff are addressing this through a variety of programs ... some focus on education, while others seek to improve employment prospects once the inmates are released. Faith-based initiatives are in place, as well, to encourage inmates to have a better view of themselves, their place in this world and their relationship with God. Still another program has adopted a 12-step program inspired by Alcoholics Anonymous, to encourage rehabilitation of body, mind and spirit.

Of course, inmates are not the only ones impacted by a prison sentence ... many leave behind spouses, children and other family members who have relied upon them. Encouraging and maintaining those ties is another area that BCP is addressing though programs and facilities to encourage visitations and contacts between the inmates and their families.

Really, I'm just scratching the surface of what we saw and experienced today ...

Please keep us - Pastor Walter Thompson, Dr. Greg Bartha, Becky Holmes, Pat Hunter, Jeff McDonald, Chrissie Mee and Casey Smith, Warden Woods and his staff (with a special word for the inmates of BCP), our friends in the community of Seven Mile / El Progresso, and our WAW  partners - in your thoughts and prayers.

Got questions and/or comments for our team? Send them through the link at the bottom of this page.

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