By: Isabel Taylor Escoda

I went to jail last Sunday. An Englishwoman I know sent me there. Hong Kong’s Victoria Prison is not far from my small flat, u p a hill in the colony’s Central District. Around the prison block are art galleries, antique and furniture shops and on the same street as the jail entrance, down the hill a bit, is a cozy French restaurant.

Special Permission

I stood in line outside the prison gate, with a group of Chinese waiting to visit the inmates. Once inside the prison I handed my ID card and told the officer I wanted to see Clara Cruz (not the real name). I was told to go back the next room where a young stern-faced woman officer asked if I made an appointment. I asked no but that my friend Ann Smyth had told me I could go any time. I’m sorry,” the officer said flatly. “You cannot see her.” “Oh please,” I begged (Ann had told me to act object-“kiss their boots, if need be, they enjoy that”). “I’m going to Manila tomorrow and I want to tell her mother I’ve seen her.” I was lying, of course.

By Meriam R. Jordan

Hesitation

The parish priest had asked her to follow up those taken both the Basic Bible Seminar (BBS) and the Bible Facilitators Seminar (BFS). Not knowing anything about the apostolate then, she was not keen on taking it. “I was hesitant because I did not know what this was all,” she recalled. But having seen the interest of the parishioners, and how alive the word of God was for them, affecting their lives, she agreed.