The various efforts of ministering to inmates should culminate into reconciling the person with His creator and assisting to get back, pick up his life again and move ahead in whatever area of his endeavour in life. Rehabilitation efforts is crucial and very tasking with huge financial requirement.
The emphasis of PF is to create a leverage by which ex-inmates are reconciled with families or acquaintances for the purpose of re-starting their lives, thereby saving the burden of providing shelter and other things needed for stabilization.
This however has not been possible in some instances thus pressing for our developing g the half-way home site the state has acquired. Another dimension apart from outright rejection of the fellow is an unpleasant situation the volunteer may find himself.
An instance is a young man enrolled as an apprentice, who deserted his boss at a mechanic workshop in Ibadan. He made effort to get to a relative in Lagos but was arrested by the police along the express way close to Sagamu junction. He was suspected to be a car thief wince he was found on the highway without any satisfactory explanation, though without anything that can be used to open a car.
He was charged to court and and after three adjournments without the police showing up to prosecute the matter, he was discharged. Pastor Ayo Osawere from PF Sagamu zone accommodated him and had made arrangement for him to learn shoe making which was his area of interest. He took counsel to visit the fellow’s parents in Ibadan and get their consent only to meet what he never bargained for.
The ex-inmate has been reported missing by the family and have informed the police and immigration. The police when informed of the boy’s return arrested Pastor Ayo, took him to the police station and was requested to offer explanation on how he came about the missing boy. He explained that he is a Prison Fellowship volunteer that encountered him while in prison custody and has come to render further assistance.
He was let off the hook after the explanation but had to repeat the same to immigration officers that came for clarification. It was obvious that the Pastor was suspected to be a child trafficker. The family claimed to have spent about N50,000.00 in the process of the search. Immigration officers sought to establish contact with the Pastor for possible assistance on related matters.
Such are some of the challenges faced in this divine assignment.