Claudine Figueira introduces us to a ministry making an impact for Christ in prisons
Sycamore Tree is a Christian prison programme run by Prison Fellowship International (PFI) across the globe.
Obviously the name is based on Zacchaeus’ story in Luke 19.1-10. Our ministry is about God’s amazing love in Jesus that goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest pit! We believe that no one is beyond hope. Do you?
Roots
Prison Fellowship (PF) was founded in the United States in 1976 by Charles W. Colson, following his release from prison after serving a sentence for a ‘Watergate’related crime. Prior to his imprisonment, Colson served as chief counsel for President Richard Nixon.
His time in prison showed him the importance of a Christian witness in prisons and, based on his experiences, he founded Prison Fellowship in the USA. He wrote in his memoir Born Again: ‘I found myself increasingly drawn to the idea that God had put me in prison for a purpose and that I should do something for those I had left behind.’
This became the basis of a worldwide organisation – Prison Fellowship International – which is now the world’s largest and most extensive association of national Christian ministries working within the criminal justice sector.
Over the centuries, Christians in the UK have responded to Christ’s call to visit those in prison (Matthew 25). Reformers such as John Howard and Elizabeth Fry did much to alleviate the appalling prison conditions in the 18th and 19th centuries. Christians influenced 19th-century prison legislation which provided for individual cells instead of dormitories and for the appointment of three members of staff – governor, doctor and chaplain.
‘Jesus wanted to go into prisons’
How has Prison Fellowship developed in England and Wales?
In the 1970s, Sylvia Mary Alison believed God was calling her to develop Christian ministry in our prisons, but she was not clear about the way forward. As an 18-year-old she had felt God’s clear call to minister to prisoners. At first, she was ‘appalled and afraid’, but soon received a new vision: ‘From that time forward the whole emphasis of my commitment changed. It was now no longer that I had to go to prisons and borstals, but rather that Jesus, out of his love for people, wanted to go into the prisons, and he was merely inviting me to go along with him.’ *
In 1974, Sylvia and Michael Alison met Charles Colson. When Sylvia heard about Prison Fellowship in the USA, she believed this was the answer to her prayers and so, in 1979, Prison Fellowship England and Wales (PFEW) began. On the cover of Sylvia Mary Alison’s book God is Building a House, about the founding of PFEW, are the words: ‘Mankind is always building, but unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain.’
Privilege of prayer
Initially, Prison Fellowship was not allowed involvement within the prisons and was told that all they could do was pray. We never regarded prayer as a ‘consolation prize’ but a great privilege. Prayer groups were eventually established across the country to pray for every prison and these groups are still foun-dational. There are around 100 local groups, with committed volunteers praying for our prisons, supporting the work of chaplaincies and running PF programmes.
For most offenders on Sycamore Tree, the most powerful element of the programme is when a ‘surrogate victim’ comes in on week 3 to talk through how crime has impacted their lives. At the end of each programme, these victims of crime are invited back, with other members of the community, to support and bear witness to the offenders’ stating their intentions to put into practice their improved attitudes and behaviour. During this session, offenders have an opportunity to express their remorse - some write letters or poems and others create works of art or craft to express this.
Lyn Connolly volunteers as a surrogate victim and tells how speaking on the Sycamore Tree course has helped her rehabilitation.
In August 2002, she arrived home to the news that her son Paul had been murdered.
Paul was just 28 and he was about to be engaged; the ring was on order. Imagine the family’s devastation. Her husband Mick is the pastor of Wavertree Christian Fellowship in Liverpool, and during a press conference they were asked: ‘How do you feel about the people who killed your son?’ They replied: ‘We forgive them.’
Lyn and Mick became volunteers with Prison Fellowship in 2006, and they visit prisons (20 to date) to share their story of the hurt and pain of losing a loved one to murder. Mick and Lyn also speak about the power of ‘forgiveness’ and the impact it has. It brings comfort and healing to lives. They heard many testimonies of changed lives on the Sycamore Tree course.
France
A breakthrough has recently occurred in France for Sycamore Tree ministry.
I joined Prison Fellowship England and Wales as a facilitator in 2006 and as a tutor since 2011. These experiences and God’s radical love and calling convinced me to pursue the formation of PF and Sycamore Tree in France, my home country.
It has been eight years of not losing hope and faith and believing that God would work through our difficulties, led by Christ’s words, rooted in prayer with hearts of compassion to love and serve.
God always has an adequate strategy if the sea breaks out and the winds blow strongly: our difficulties are his possibilities.
Micah 6.8, ‘He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’ resonates deeply with me, as it was the verse chosen by Prison Fellowship International during the conference that took place in Amsterdam in 2014. Timothy Khoo, then the CEO for PFI encouraged us all by affirming that ‘the call to service is not about safety and security, but about courage and conviction’. This echoed in my heart and helped me to persevere in believing that God had a future for Sycamore Tree in France.
A Muslim opened the door
I initially met the French National Protestant prison chaplain in June 2011, but he was not convinced that Sycamore Tree with Zacchaeus’ story would be accepted in France, because of France’s strong secular identity. Nothing happened between 2011 and 2014, but everything resumed in April 2014 when the chaplain attended the ICPA (International Chaplaincy Prison Association) conference in Strasbourg. He heard from a Muslim prison chaplain from HMP Feltham about a great course, one where young men put themselves into the victims’ shoes and feel what their victims go through. The Muslim chaplain also praised the great work accomplished by the Christian volunteers involved.
We are approved for a first pilot programme planned from 28 May to 2 July 2019 with Zacchaeus and Jesus. I am overwhelmed by joy and tears and so grateful to our Servant King: his grace is all sufficient. Rejoice.
Real work starts
We are at the bottom of the mountain and now the ‘real’ work starts, but our Lord is already ahead of us and at the end of our march. Emma, a PFEW volunteer from HMP Send, shared this beautiful recollection with me: ‘We spent most of the time travelling in a very dark tunnel, at high speed. So, I asked God, how on earth could it be encouraging to be in a very dark tunnel. I felt God saying: “Notice the speed. That speed is my power. My power is moving. We are in a long tunnel, but do not underestimate the distance I am travelling. Notice my power in the dark”.’
A big thank you to all who have prayed and supported me in this journey so far: the work accomplished on the field resonates beyond national frontiers with positive ripple effects. Please pray for France.
You can contact Claudine by email on ClaudineF@silvatecdesign.com
