Getting the prisoners at Christchurch Women’s Prison to knit hats, mittens and blankets for Moldovan orphans is just one of Carol Frost’s successes.
Carol, who is a Presbyterian chaplain at the prison, says the knitting for orphans living in temperatures of -25 degrees Celsius (Operation Cover Up) helps to pass the time. It is also “often the first time many of the women have ever done anything for another person”.
Keeping the women busy can be a challenge, Carol says, because they spend such long hours locked in their cells and many have neither a television nor a radio.
“Due to staff shortages, lock down is from 4:45pm to 8:15am, so not being able to afford their own TV or radio to pass the time with can be very hard. They often do not have friends or families who will give or loan them one so donations
are appreciated.”
Helping those in prison is something to which Carol has long felt called. After 15 years volunteering with Prison Fellowship at a men’s prison, she was very happy to be invited by Christchurch Women’s Prison to apply for the chaplaincy position.
Carol says chaplaincy has its ups and downs but there have been success stories, such as the woman “who came to the Lord and I saw it change her whole life, she was the first one to be baptised by immersion at the prison”.
Chaplaincy can also be disheartening at times, Carol says. “You make this commitment to the women and then they let you down - a lot”. But this isn’t surprising, she says, when you hear about the women’s difficult backgrounds. “I keep in mind that the women are no different than me, they just grew up in a different family from me. Many have been sexually abused.”
Carol is assisted in her work by volunteers and by an assistant chaplain who runs the Sycamore Tree programme. Carol holds Sunday service for inmates and has a Bible time mid-week that ends with a discussion. Other duties include memorial services for both prisoners and staff.
The prison employs Carol as a chaplain for 20 hours per week and as she is a trained counsellor and psychotherapist, she spends a number of those hours counselling the prisoners. “The women might approach me directly when I’m on the floor interacting with them, or I might be approached by a social worker or a corrections officer might refer someone to me.”
Carol is a Presbyterian but she says denomination makes little difference to the women “because many of these women have very little knowledge of God”. Carol says that she loves to bring women to faith in Christ “because I know it makes for real change”.
That the women’s faith journey might cease once they are released from prison is something about which Carol is very concerned. “Here is an opportunity that churches are missing.”
“After the women have left prison, I encourage them for the first time in their lives to go along to a church; and because many of these women have never set foot in a church, going into one is scary. Unfortunately, what is happening is that instead of being welcomed by the congregation, they are ignored, so they leave.”
What would work, Carol says, is if churches were “to send someone along to visit with the women who are soon to be released, just a few times, then they would have a church to go to where they would see a friendly face and be encouraged to stay. It’s about providing hospitality and discipling”.
Carol says the women need to get connected quickly with a church on the outside, because they are being released into the same environment that dragged them down.
Christchurch churches interested in inviting women who have left prison to attend their church can contact Carol at the chaplaincy office, phone (03) 344-6875.
Carol adds that many of the women who are knitting are also in need of warm clothing themselves. “We have women sent here from Northland and Christchurch is just too cold for them, so donations of tracksuit pants, jumpers, cardigans and warm sweatshirts without hoods would be most appreciated.”
*Churches that would like to donate warm, clean clothing and blankets, TVs or radios to the prisoners can contact Prisoners Aid & Rehab (PARS) national office in
Wellington on (04) 527-7091, Canterbury region’s Jane Hossack on (03) 371-9181 and Taranaki/Wanganui’s Steve Treloar on (06) 345-5969.
By Angela Singer