By John Keery

IT HAS been a long haul for Rob Baskin, but the Bridges to New Life prison ministry he founded nine years ago is beginning to take blossom in the Interior.

“The reason I was called into this ministry was to mobilize the church – and it is happening,” Baskin told BCCN following successful mid-November fundraising banquets in Kamloops, Vernon and Kelowna.

After years of operating on less than a shoestring out of Baskin’s house, Bridges has in the past few months raised nearly half the money to buy a facility in Kelowna. The building, Baskin said, “is going to mean we will have much more exposure. Working out of home has kept the vision kinds of isolated.” The former hair salon near Capri Centre will provide office space, and temporary lodging for five people.

Bridges now has 60 volunteers who visit and write prison inmates, assist offender and victim families, and provide practical help, mentoring and spiritual involvement for people after they are released from prison. The ministry is in contact with 140 people per month.

Board member Bill Welder started out as a mentor after being inspired by a member of his church. Working with people who have come out of prison has helped him grow spiritually, and he has been greatly encouraged by the way God has moved people to support the building project. “Eight months ago we decided to buy a building, but we didn’t have any money. We have raised more than $260,000.”

Baskin said Christians often fall into the law and order mindset, which says ‘lock ‘em up and throw away the key.’    

“Yes, churches are a very difficult audience. But God has called me to be the messenger.” Prison is unbelievably expensive and usually counterproductive, he said.  

There are many hidden costs, in addition to the $50-70,000 per year it costs to keep people in jail.  Families lose their father figures, and often end up on welfare. The individual in jail often ends up bankrupt. When he gets out, it is extremely difficult to find employment or accommodation.

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It would be better, said Baskin, for convicted criminals who are not violent to be made to pay back those they have wronged, and society as a whole – rather than put them in prisons, which often function as schools of crime.

Welder said it has not always been easy being a mentor for former inmates, but he believes Christ would want us to help them. “I ask myself: ‘What would the Lord do?’ Would he write this guy off, or give him a chance?”

Bridges makes regular visits to the Kamloops Regional Corrections Centre, and works with people in halfway houses in the region. It helps people find accommodation, and provides donated furniture and clothing when possible. It hosts weekly 12-step programs. Special events have included fishing, horseback riding, rock climbing and a beach barbecue.

Bridges operates on a philosophy of restorative justice, rather than punishment. It calls itself “a community chaplaincy service whose objective is to assist individuals whose lives have been affected by crime in becoming whole and productive members of society, and to facilitate healing between themselves and the community.”

The ministry still needs to raise more than $300,000 to complete renovations to the new building, and pay off loans that have been made on good terms by supporters.

Baskin became interested in prison ministry because he had a few brushes with the law himself as a young man, and spent a few weekends in police lockups. “From age 15 to 31 I lived for the enemy,” he said.

He hopes the ministry will take on a life of its own and eventually outgrow him. “I want to ensure it doesn’t remain a one-man show,” he said. “Hopefully, one day somebody brighter and sharper than me will be leading.”

Contact: bridgestnl.org.

December 2007