Heroin, prostitution, and Gospel ministry

I spent several hours in Her Majesty's Courts yesterday: my first glimpse into the British system of justice and a very interesting experience in comparison to the American courts. Monday I received a phone call from a desperate mother whose 22-year-old daughter—a serious heroin addict and prostitute—was facing serious charges. A minimum six-month prison sentence was the expected outcome of yesterday's court appearance; that is, until God intervened.

Those who have kept in touch with me since our arrival in Wales nearly four years ago might remember Steve, another heroin addict that God brought into our lives. We took Steve into our home for several weeks and eventually discovered Betel of Britain, a faith-based drug rehabilitation program in Birmingham, England. Through contact with Betel, I arranged for a telephone interview and he was offered immediate placement. He graduated their eighteen month residential program just a few months ago and has now become a member of their staff at a brand-new ministry location in Sydney, Australia. When I was speaking about God's True Fast (Isaiah 58) a couple of weeks ago, I used that encouraging example as an illustration of God's amazing grace.

Someone shared that sermon illustration with a close friend, the mother of a young woman that I will call Jessica. She asked if I would meet with her and Jessica later that afternoon. The mother did most of the talking, until the stepfather joined us, and I listened to their painful ten-year journey. Jessica faded in and out of conscious participation in our discussion. She had not slept in days: most heroin addicts sleep very little. She was skin and bones, and her face an ashen grey color. It broke my heart. By the time my wife arrived home, I had already telephoned Betel; however, their key staff had already gone home for the day and we would not be able to explore this option until the next day.

When I talked with Betel staff the next morning, they offered Jessica a tentative placement dependent upon a satisfactory telephone interview later in the afternoon. Thankfully, Tuesday's interview went well, so now everything hinged on Thursday's court appearance. A lot of cooperation would be required to pull this off: between the probation service, the magistrates' court, and Betel of Britain. Would the magistrate's allow a faith-based residential rehab program—especially one they had never heard of—as a substitute for the legally specified prison sentence? Would the UK's probation service be willing to transfer jurisdiction to Birmingham? Could Betel accommodate the requirements of the magistrates and the probation service without jeopardizing the integrity of their program?

Our entire church was mobilized to pray. The family had exhausted every option: mental health specialists, medical staff, probation officers, and Her Majesty's Prison Service. Each had applied their unique expertise to isolated aspects of Jessica's problem—mental, physical, chemical, and geographical—but no government system can effectively deal with the whole person. I knew that Betel would be the only place where she could really receive the proper care, support, discipline, friendship, mentoring, and all within the context of a Gospel community.

Yesterday was intense. First of all, the clerk of the court (a senior legal expert who advises a panel of three lay magistrates on the nuances of British law) expressed her surprise to see so many family and friends gathered in support of Jessica. She said, "In all my years of sitting on this bench, I have never seen such a show of support by family and friends for one defendant." I was introduced as "the family priest" by Jessica's solicitor (we had just met briefly before the case was heard in court). The clerk asked Jessica to stand and said, "I hope you realise how fortunate you are to have your family and friends supporting you. They obviously want the best for you."

Jessica was facing immediate imprisonment; however, due to my involvement in getting placement (and a letter to that effect) at Betel, the court suspended the prison sentence. But justice is not blind: they could not simply overlook her guilty plea, so they extended her probation for two more years and included a weekly drug testing component for the next eighteen months (the duration of the residential program at Betel). If she chooses not to remain in this program, then she will probably be facing time in prison once again.

The probation service and Betel (in Birmingham) have been working for the past twenty-four hours to co-ordinate their respective responsibilities in Jessica's case. This has been successful, which means that she is now free to enter Betel's program on Monday. Her parents will be taking her there first thing Monday morning.

Please pray for Jessica over the weekend. The powerful temptation of heroin will not be easy to resist between now and Monday, because she has been a very frequent user. Basically, someone in the family is having to keep a close watch and make sure she remains safe until they can get her to Birmingham. Tonight she will go to her birth father's home until Sunday afternoon; then she will return to her mother and step-father's home for one more night.

You can imagine that Satan will do everything within his power to prevent Jessica from being delivered from drugs and placed within a loving Gospel community in Birmingham where she will daily learn more of the love of Jesus Christ for her. Now, I believe the devil is on a tight leash determined by the sovereignty of God, but we can be assured that he will rage with all his might against anyone involved in this situation (me included). So please pray for everyone's protection and the glory of God in Jessica's life.