First Day of Restorative Justice

Hello friends! After a relatively relaxing Friday and Saturday, we've spent the last two days in prison. On Sunday we attended a prison worship service, and on Monday we began the restorative justice.

At the worship service on Sunday, we were blessed by beautiful worship music and the exhortation of one of the leaders in the inmate-run ministry. He encouraged his fellow inmates that change is possible, and that they all needed to support one another to stay changed. He noted that while HPM staff, the chaplains, and other guests are in the prisons for a little while, the inmates are together all day, every day, and so they have the power to support one another, encourage one another, and persevere in faith together.

We had a strong start of restorative justice teaching on Monday. We spent a lot of time around the table getting to know the facilitators and the students, beginning to build the relationships of trust and mutual respect that are critical for us to deliver the hard teachings and press for honest answers.

In the days ahead, please pray for:

• Our students: Some of our students are beginning to open up and share their stories from a position of vulnerability, but many maintain distance as they share only selective details or not at all. Please pray that our students would grow to trust us and each other, and would grow in courage to share their stories honestly and transparently.

• Our testimonies: Thomas will be sharing his testimony with the class tomorrow, and Hannah may share her testimony later this week. Please pray over our preparation and our time of sharing, that we would share without fear or shame, that we would share the right words of encouragement, and that the Holy Spirit would work healing and restoration in our lives as well as the lives of our students.

• Our health: More than half the team is ill with a cold (running nose, sore throat, fatigue), and many of us are having difficulty attentively listening to our students and focusing on our work. A pair of facilitators were entirely unable to participate today due to a sudden illness during their travels. Please pray that we enjoy rest and a full recovery as we head into the heavier teachings of the week.

• Logistics: We had trouble getting started on time today - our students were delayed by the prison bureaucracy in arriving to class; the chairs, tables, and other necessary supplies were late in arriving to our room which delayed setup; and the power outlets and electricity worked only intermittently over the course of the day Please pray that all these logistical issues will be resolved tomorrow, so we can focus on relationships and teaching, and not on fire-fighting.