Zambian Prisoners Receive Hope
Crossroad Bible Institute, a prison ministry affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church, has opened a distribution center in Zambia, its 11th distribution center worldwide.
CBI provides Bible study material to prisoners in many countries. These materials are filled in by inmates and then corrected by CBI personnel.
Amidst the overcrowded squalor of Zambian prisons, where malnutrition, disease, violence and injustice run rampant, CBI studies are geared to offer hope and respite from suffering.
Due to failures of the criminal justice system, 35 five percent of Zambian inmates are awaiting trial. This contributes to severe overcrowding; the country's prisons house nearly three times their intended capacity, say CBI officials.
CBI's Cynthia Williams observed Zambian prison conditions firsthand on her recent visit to Lusaka Central Prison, where the CBI program operates. For 16 hours a day, cells built for 15 prisoners are filled instead with 100. The men sleep sitting in rows, pressed between one another’s knees.
Infectious diseases, particularly HIV, tuberculosis and dysentery, spread quickly and these conditions are made worse by insufficient medical facilities. As of 2009, the health staff of the Zambia Prisons Service numbered just 14. Only 15 of the country’s 86 prisons had a clinic.
Prisoners often experience cruel treatment and do not receive soap, toiletries or sufficient food. Each day, they receive one small meal. Those without an outside contact to supplement the meal starve or resort to using sex or labor to barter for food, say CBI officials.
CBI Zambia is actively responding to inmates' needs. Several members of the Zambian leadership team have served time in their country's prisons, and they now return with a crucial message of hope.
Gilbert Mutale Mwamba, a Zambian corrections official, states, "Many lives in our prisons will be transformed through the Bible study lessons, and I can assure you that prisoners here in Zambia are very much excited to become students of CBI."
The distribution center celebrated its official launch with a ceremony attended by Williams, the leadership team, instructors, religious leaders and government officials.
CBI President Dr. David Schuringa notes, "Though sobered by the appalling conditions of Zambian prisons and the country's flawed criminal justice system, we are hopeful about the future as we observe the dedication, determination and passion of the CBI Zambia leadership team."
Crossroad Bible Institute is a prison ministry in its 26th year of operation. With over 40,000 students, CBI now has the 11 international distribution centers and two openings are pending. Visit CBI for more information. CBI’s program is provided at no cost to prisoners and their families.
