Drawing the last blue butterfly on a get well card, she looks around at her other inmates also making cards for WorldCrafts, a nonprofit and fair-trade ministry of Women’s Missionary Union, and remembers that dreadful day at the airport.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Drawing the last blue butterfly on a get well card, she looks around at her other inmates also making cards for WorldCrafts, a nonprofit and fair-trade ministry of Women’s Missionary Union, and remembers that dreadful day at the airport.
With the metal from the handcuffs digging into her skin, she begged the Ecuadorian police to believe her innocence, but they ignored her pleas. After pulverizing her luggage with an ice pick and finding a black rubber pouch, the police labeled her “guilty” and disregarded the mention of her boyfriend, the man who gave her the luggage. Fear enveloped her, hopelessness gripped her and anger permeated her.
Several days prior to this incident, Tamara Johnston* was excited about this romantic vacation in Quito, Ecuador, with her boyfriend because they hadn’t seen each other in nine months. Although he lived in California for six years, he moved back to his birthplace in Columbia. Living in different countries made the relationship difficult, but Johnston was ready for the challenge.
When they met in Ecuador, her boyfriend was distant. “I found myself sometimes complaining because Manuel [her boyfriend] seemed so very distant, but I only thought that it might have been me because I traveled with a bad cold that would not go away.”
However, Johnston soon discovered it wasn’t her, but it did have something to do with her luggage. When her boyfriend traveled from California to Columbia, he took her luggage promising to bring it back to her when they met in Ecuador. But, he didn’t have her luggage. So he bought her new luggage and even kindly packed it for her the day she was returning to the United States.
On her way to catch the flight to America, she was stopped by the police and roughly searched until they found a black rubber pouch sewn into her luggage full of heroin. Even though she truthfully told the police that it was her boyfriend’s, they made no effort to find him.
Later, she discovered her boyfriend worked as a drug trafficker with a fake identity and had no intentions of pursuing a relationship with her.
“I was deceived by a man that used me as the sacrifice to transport his drugs. While he is free, I am here living a nightmare,” Johnston said.
To make matters worse, the Ecuadorian court system is unjust and corrupt often violating her basic human rights and sexually abusing her. She’s been in prison for more than two years still waiting to prove her innocence in court.
The police are ignoring the law that states prisoner’s can be released if they haven’t been sentenced within a year’s time.
To prevent her release, the courts charged her with another drug trafficking crime.
Many prisoners in Ecuador are facing similar situations as Johnston. Whether they were caught between a drug deal or smuggling drugs to make money for their children, each woman is desperately trying to survive in the harsh Ecuadorian prison.
Helping the inmates, the Shine on Us Lord crafts guild teaches the women to make handcrafted cards, unique to Ecuador.
In turn, WorldCrafts markets and sells the cards to the United States sending them the profits. This gives them a ray of hope and a little income as they await their release.
Although this provides financial support to the women, it also gives spiritual support.
The staff of Shine on Us Lord visit several times a week teaching them to make cards as well as teaching them about the love of Christ. Each visit the women learn to rely on God’s strength to endure the injustice of the prison and are reminded of God’s hope for their future.
In this dark time of Johnston’s life, she clings to God. “My love for the Lord existed before I got here, and it has increased since I have been here,” she said.
And, she deeply appreciates the encouragement and discipleship from the Shine on Us Lord staff.
“The care and nurture they give us is beyond words,” she said. “It is felt deep within my spirit. They are truly our family here, but they go beyond the call to have a human concern for us and our families at home.”
WorldCrafts’ ministry includes paring with local micro businesses from more than 37 countries around the world to help relieve poverty, sickness and oppression.
Besides purchasing gifts from WorldCrafts, such as the Ecuadorian cards, people seeking to help can host a WorldCrafts party, pray for specific situations outlined in the prayer guide of the WorldCrafts catalog and give financially to the Jackson/Reese Endowment to expand WorldCrafts to new countries.
For more information on WorldCrafts, visit www.worldcraftsvillage.com and discover how participation can impact people around the world.
*Name changed for security.