So...A Needle Pulling Thread

Today I went for the second time to the prison that is situated just across the highway from the Casa Hogar. One of the missionary ladies from Canada that has been at the Mission for 6 years, Elaine, has been teaching sewing classes to the ladies in the neighborhood and to the girls/ladies at the home. They mainly sew quilts. In the last couple of months she has begun to expand her ministry to include the prison.
There are always jokes and warnings about Mexican prisons. The truth is that many people who are in the prisons are there because they can't afford representation so there is no way to fight the charges brought against them. Sometimes children are interned with their parents because there is no one else to care for them (some of our kids come from this type of situation). Often, inmates still need to make money for their families outside of the prison, or to pay for food for those interned with them. There are no uniforms that inmates must wear, so it feels completely nomal once we have gone through the iron gates, check-in and pat down. Some men are playing basketball and soccer, others lounge around talking. The only thing that reminds you it is a prison are the armed guards, the tall walls and the watch towers.
It has been interesting to take part in helping Elaine teach quilt-making at the prison. Thanks mom, for teaching me to sew. That knowledge is coming in handy. There are currently more men than women in the class and the men are very enthusiastic about their quilts. They are all quick learners and after the first week had already pieced the tops of their baby quilts. Elaine's goal is to teach them how to make a couple of different things in order for them to be able to sell their wares. One woman has already started to take the skills she is learning to piece a twin-sized quilt on her own. Either for lack of nothing better to do or the need for extra income, her ministry at the prison allows for both practical help and spiritual nourishment for the inmates.
Amazingly I have not felt threatened or in danger when at the prison. I simply seem surrounded by normal people who have run into an obstacle in their lifes, as we all have. They are upbeat, enthusiastic, playful...
My favorite memory from the prison so far was helping an older lady with her quilt. I noticed it was all sewn by hand and I was talking to her about it. She said she didn't know how to use a machine so it was much easier to sew by hand, a technique she probably mastered much earlier in life. "Mi colcha es de mano...ellos de pie. No sé como hacer de pie." My quilt is by hand, theirs by foot. I don't know how to make a quilt by foot. And she laughed. May you keep the joy of the Lord in your hearts no matter what circumstance you may find yourself in.