Bangkok Women’s Prison Slideshow

In late September Marlene and I traveled to Thailand for ten days. We were joined in Thailand by Bill and Mary Jo Price of Columbus, Ohio. During our time there we met missionaries Charles and Lourdes Holmes. Lourdes has served in Thailand for forty years. A large part of their very effective ministry involves reaching out to the inmates in various prisons in Thailand. One day we visited the large (5000 inmates) women’s prison in Bangkok. Once a month over 300 women gather for a worship service. Here is a slideshow from that remarkable morning.

Despite the crowded and difficult nature of the prison environment (Thai prisons are worse than American prisons), we were overwhelmed by the joy of the women, most of whom have been saved since coming to prison. You will note pictures of different groups of women singing. These were inmates from various countries, such as China, Russia, Burma (Myanmar), the Latino inmates, and then there was a group of women from death row who sang. Many of the women are serving long terms of 10-20 years. Some are hoping for a pardon from the king. And when they are released, Charles and Lourdes work with the local churches to incorporate them into a congregation where they can continue to grow.

The last picture in the sequence shows the children from the Bethany Home, an outreach started by Charles and Lourdes to take care of the children of the women who are in prison.

If you ask why I’m posting the slideshow now instead of several months ago, it’s because I didn’t know how to do it until yesterday when Derek Taylor spent several hours on the phone walking me through the process.

If you’d like to know more about our trip to Thailand, check out these posts:

Thailand–Day 1
Wrapping Up the Conference in Thailand
On the Way Home