Baptism pools for prisons

Desire Ncube
CELEBRATION Churches International has partnered the Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services to build baptism pools and fonts at prisons.
Celebration Church prison ministry leader Pastor Winnie Kanoyangwa said pools had already been built at Chikurubi Maximum Security and Farm prison, while Harare Central, Kentucky and Mutoko prisons will be catered for this year.
Pr Winnie said she started working with inmates 12 years ago.
“The Government granted me access to Chikurubi Prison but only to minister to women. Now I have access to prisons and prisoners throughout the country. At one point I preached to prisoners in Bulawayo and 3 800 received Christ that day,” she said.
“Like prisons all over the world, there is minimal contact with the outside and many basic necessities are in short supply. We have seen a need to reach into the bleak and desolate world — to the unwanted and forgotten souls that dwell within the prison system.
“The idea of baptism came after the realisation that the rehabilitation process was incomplete without changing the souls of the inmates.
“In November 2009, 85 inmates at Chikurubi Farm Prison were baptised by representatives of the Zimbabwe Prison Service Chaplain-General and vowed to lead changed lives when released. We started the programme in June last year with the baptism of 102 inmates and I can confirm that there is a significant change in their behaviour.”