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The Measure of a Gift
After helping prisoners for many years, a young PF Staff member became too ill to visit. That's when the prisoners began caring for her, by visiting and donating their limited income.
Generosity and compassion are not the kind of traits one tends to associate with prisoners. But a group of prisoners in Guayaquil, Ecuador, are donating their meagre resources to support a Prison Fellowship worker. For the past decade Gloria Montano has been a vital member of the PF Ecuador team in Guayaquil. Initially serving as a volunteer, she became increasingly involved and soon emerged as a leader and president of the Guayaquil branch of PF Ecuador. In 2002, Gloria led the establishment of Hogar Vida Nueva‘ (New Life Home) and an APACbased Community of Restoration in the prison. Hogar Vida Nueva is a PF operated open-prison where inmates who “graduate” from the in-prison APAC unit are encouraged and supported in their Christian faith. They also learn skills that will enable them to make their transition back into the community. From the very beginning of the project Gloria has been deeply involved with the men who have become part of the programme. Her regular visits provided them with comfort, affirmation, and a vital connection with the outside world. Last year, Gloria‘s visits became less and less frequent as her growing health problems were traced to the failure of her kidneys. She quickly became dependent on a regime of daily dialysis and frequent trips to the hospital for medical tests. Unable to leave home for any length of time it became impossible for her to maintain her work in the APAC unit of the prison and with the men at Hogar Vida Nueva.
When she was no longer able to visit the men, they began visiting her and they started taking turns to care for her. For more than a year Gloria has struggled through dialysis as she waits for a suitable kidney to be found so she can have the transplant she so desperately needs. Meanwhile the costs for dialysis continue to mount.
Were it not for special help from her friends, Gloria would not be able to afford the treatments and would very likely not be able to survive the long wait for the transplant. Among the friends who have come to her aid are the prisoners from the APAC unit in the prison and the men of Hogar Vida Nueva. The prisoners in the APAC unit earn a small wage through their work in a carpentry workshop and are contributing the money they earn to help their friend Gloria. The money these men earn amounts to very little; in fact for most of them it is money they depend on for themselves and to support their own families.
The men give because when they were isolated and imprisoned, Gloria touched them with kindness, respect, and the love of Jesus Christ. “If I could do anything more so that she would not lack anything, I would do it with all my heart,” says Domingo Alvarado of the APAC unit, “because she is like a mother who deserves the best of this life.” Juan Carlos Sanchez, who is also from the APAC unit explains, “She has given her life for each one of us and because of this I give her all of my efforts, even when it might help very little, for she deserves so much more.” As in Jesus‘ story of the widow‘s mite, the real measure of the contribution being made by the prisoners far exceeds the face value of the currency.
