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Unlikely people
Although I didn’t come to faith until I was an adult, God has always had his hand on me. I was born and bred in the UK, and as a young person at Leeds University, I volunteered with the local probation service. We took a bunch of young guys camping, and that sparked my interest in working with prisoners.
After graduating in 1976, I worked as a prison officer, and then as the assistant governor at a young offenders’ unit. The place was not secure and was surrounded by agricultural land—I spent a lot of time getting back young guys that had escaped!
In 1987, my husband Rob and I, along with our two young children, settled in Whitby. I had some church background—I had been baptised in the Presbyterian Church. But when we came to New Zealand, we met this lovely couple who had been missionaries in Tanzania. They took us through a precursor to the Alpha course, and explained to me for the first time exactly what the Christian faith was about. That was 25 years ago and they are still dear, dear friends. Since then, Rob and I have run 30-odd Alpha courses.
I have always had a belief that people can change. And encouragingly in my job, we do see people making changes in their life. ‘Desistence’—the process of stopping offending—takes a long time. If someone’s offending becomes less serious, or there are longer time periods between offences, these are successes.
Today, I am a field worker for The Salvation Army’s Reintegration Services, as well as working part-time for Prison Fellowship. Before people are released from prison, we visit them several times to start building a relationship with them.
Once they are released, we provide accommodation, and help them manage in the community—many long-term prisoners have very little idea how to cope in the outside world. We take them to WINZ (Work and Income), help them go shopping, register them with a healthcare provider, attend to any mental health needs, and liaise with Probation. We might take them out for coffee—if they’re anxious, we’re just at the end of a phone. We do all those ‘friend’ things.
Recently, I picked up a woman who has been deported from Australia and take her to the doctor. She has complex physical and mental health issues. She hasn’t been in New Zealand since she was 14, and doesn’t have any whānau here. It’s a tragic situation, so it’s just about encouraging her and being empathetic. I love to see the men and women we work with begin to build meaningful relationships in the community. One client has been in and out of prison for 50 or so years—he was horrendously abused as a child and was in foster care since the age of four. I have known him for eight years, and this is the first time he has managed to keep his flat. Through Prison Fellowship, we gave him a cat for his birthday, and he adores it. Sadly, he is dying of lung cancer. But at the age of 70, he is changing—it’s never too late.
Another guy I worked with was in a gang along with all his brothers. He came to know Jesus in prison. Since then, he has rebuilt his relationship with his partner, and every weekend he is out doing street ministry. His children are going to walk a different path from him. That is so fantastic! It’s these stories that keep me going.
by Audrey Moonlight(c) 'War Cry' magazine, 7 April 2018, pp10-11 - You can read 'War Cry' at your nearest Salvation Army church or centre, or subscribe through Salvationist Resources.