A Corner Filled with Light (Paraguay Prison Ministry on the JudyBlog)
Twenty-year-old Damaris is a prisoner at the “House of the Good Shepherd” women’s prison in Asunción, Paraguay, along with her young daughter, Saret. The story of Damaris’ dysfunctional childhood is all too familiar. Her father raped her and later abandoned the family. At eight years of age, she ran away from home, and she had committed her first murder before she was thirteen. When she found out she was pregnant, she withdrew from her drug-addicted lifestyle, only to find herself imprisoned for her crimes at the age of 19.
In September 2010, TWR's Americas Magazine & Web Content Editor visited TWR Paraguay’s ministry in Asunción. Her focus: meet and interview listeners to TWR Paraguay’s Spanish, Guarani and Low German language programs. Afer she returned, Judy Hughes of TWR conducted this interview and asked her about her experience in the women’s prison:
“How did you feel about this opportunity?”
Katie replied, “Apprehensive. We were searched before we could enter the prison. We were only allowed one camera among us and each of us had one form of identification. I was told to not wear jewelry and to dress plainly.”
“What did you observe?”
“The living conditions are crowded and dingy, and there is a heaviness, a darkness. You can sense the spiritual battle that’s being waged,” she said. “In one little corner of the prison, though, the sun comes out. This is where the women gather who have come to Christ through TWR Paraguay’s Project Hannah (PH) ministry.”
Damaris is one of those women who gather in that light-filled corner. She received Christ through the weekly Bible study provided through a group of Project Hannah volunteers who visit the prison on Mondays. These women also listen to Project Hannah’s Women of Hope radio program.
Katie said, “Damaris gave me a hug, and she was so excited to call me her sister in Christ!” How beautiful is that? Though behind bars and prison wire, this young mother smiles and has hope.
As a Ministry Partner Liaison with Trans World Radio (TWR), Judy Hughes is a “personal connection” to the ministry of TWR and the exciting ways in which God is at work in and through this mission.