|
Former member of the British board of directors, Mr Adrian Bruce joined the Hope Now team of volunteer workers at Pollsmore Prison. When Hope Now wanted to localise the work Adrian established Transformation Pollsmore. It represents a group of mainly full-time South African Christian workers who are passionate about spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ to the prison population, who have often grown up not just with material and emotional poverty but, worst of all, suffer from severe spiritual malnourishment. He says, "Most of our work is concentrated in the Medium A Juvenile Prison which houses 2,000 youngsters between the ages of 18 and 21, three-quarters of whom are awaiting trial.
Every day we are seeing God's Word change lives through the power of the Holy Spirit through a mixture of daily devotions, Bible studies, special programmes and one-to-one counselling. We have seen hardened gangsters and murderers transformed into kind-hearted and loving disciples of Jesus, excited and inspired to go and share what they have discovered with other prisoners. It can be difficult to imagine them committing the crimes for which they were sent to prison; so complete is God's transformation! See website
There are not many full-time Christian workers from outside compared to the number of inmates, but we see that God is making evangelists and teachers from within. The prison authorities have been very supportive in helping us to create rooms (cells of up to 60 prisoners) which can be used solely to house and disciple Christian converts as well as allowing us to take inmates with us around the prison to act as peer-group evangelists.
We can only work in the prison until lunchtime each day, but the work doesn't stop there! We will try to encourage ex-prisoners wherever possible, visit families and arrange for private meetings with their sons at the prison where (in many cases) there are relationship issues to be resolved".
"Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" - Romans 12 v 2
www.transformationtrust.org
|
