St. Thomas the Believer Project

Dear David,

Sure! I have always had a ministry among the prisoners in the Penitentiary, and some of my congregation visit the hated sex offenders in their special unit.

My ministry is among the “lepers” of Chile, the imprisoned military connected to Pinochet’s regime. They are imprisoned under a system whereby they cannot appeal and are practically sentenced for life. They are the most unpopular of all prisoners as it is assumed that they are all guilty of atrocious crimes. This is untrue. Some may have been, but most are victims of political vendetta and are forgotten by all, even their Armed Forces. We have sought to hold services of Reconciliation with their families and the families of the “disappeared” during the military regime, as most children of that generation want to leave behind the divisions and hatred.

We go every week, although I personally can only get to them once a month and hold communion services. At least six have come to Christ, made public confession of their crimes, said they were sorry. However, their plight continues the same. Some are over 80, have Alzheimer’s and don’t even know what they are doing in there. So, we fight for them to be allowed to continue their sentences at home. But it has been unfruitful.

During the pandemic we have only been able to visit them by Zoom and phone.

We trust that a new regimen may have mercy on some of the older prisoners.

-Alfred Cooper