With the news of Ian Watkins of Lostprophets conviction Joy Farrington considers the impact of love on prisons and their inmates

Joy Attmore

Last night was beautiful.

I went to the girl's jail with some of the other members of our Casa Mis Sueños team to give the inmates there an early Christmas. We had a huge roast turkey feast for them followed by cake, candy bags and gifts. A friend's daughter, who happens to be a famous singer in Ecuador, surprised the girls with a visit and sang Christmas carols with them, much to their delight! I spent a few minutes talking about the real reason for Christmas and why we had all come to visit them before we grasped hands together and prayed.

I sat with a beautiful young girl who took my hand and held it tightly, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. In the moments after uttering 'amen', I looked into her big brown eyes and asked if she was ok. Her response flawed me. 'I've always spent Christmas on my own, ever since I was a baby, and now I feel like I have family because you came to visit me. They're letting me out next week and I'm scared, I don't want to go back to what I was doing before. Thank you for coming, thank you for loving me!' I held her and told her I loved her. We gave her our contact number and are now hoping that she gets in contact once she is released.

Another girl beckoned me over and proceeded to thank me for leaving my family and loved ones so that I could show her love at Christmas. She was baffled that we would come, even when we knew they had done horrible things, to tell them that we love them. 'I will never forget you,' were some of her final words to me.

And I will never forget them.

Today I have felt the heaviness that comes when exposed to stories of abuse and brokenness. As I scrolled through my Twitter feed this morning, I read the shocking news about Ian Watkins, the lead singer of the band Lostprophets. My heart broke further with every word. Today he was sentenced in court to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to 13 child sex offences.

Back in my teens I used to listen to the Lostprophets, loving one album in particular, now I sat in my room staring at the screen of my phone as I read the horrific details of Ian's offences. My thoughts and emotions were repulsed but at the same time I could not feel hate or anger. My overwhelming response was one of compassion accompanied by a heart cry to see a change in our world.

I don't for one second want to brush what Ian has done under the carpet but at the same time I know the Father heart of God yearns to be reconciled to him. I hate abuse and sexual perversion. I hate the atrocities that have taken place against these innocent children. But I have also been awakened to love. I have spent time in the prisons, holding young people in my arms who have killed and abused and all I have felt towards them is love.

When we let our eyes be opened by love, when we allow ourselves to view fellow humanity with and in love, it changes our perspective on everything.

When I look at those pictures of Ian Watkins, I see an opportunity for God's redemptive love to break through. I see a man broken by the very things he thought would satisfy him. I see a child who has been coaxed by lies and deceit until it has completely locked him up.

The following words are from a passage in the Bible that I've been reminded of today. I've come to a place where I can't forget the men and women behind bars, even if they are kept far out of sight. I can't forget them because my heart has become full of love for them.

'Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it's needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it! Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you.'
Hebrews 13:1-3