Supporting the Prison Apostolate in Ecuador

Some time ago, we asked for your support for the prison outreach ministry in the Archdiocese of Guayaquil in Ecuador, a country in Latin America that is badly affected by the plague of violence. The level of this violence is particularly alarming in the port city of Guayaquil, a city of close to 3 million souls. Young people in particular, aged anywhere from 15 to 30, are especially at risk of being recruited by criminal gangs. 

In response, the archdiocese has established a pastoral outreach program aimed at helping offenders to find a new perspective on life and get them back on the straight and narrow. Priests and lay pastoral workers are working together with prisoners and their families. Thanks to the $11,263 generously given by our donors, they have now been able to step up this apostolate and train several additional pastoral workers.  

Maria Cristina Santa Cruz is responsible for the prison outreach ministry of the Archdiocese. She has written to thank us: “We have witnessed wonderful instances of conversions, both among the prisoners themselves and among prison officers,” she says. “We have fasted and prayed for you and for the outreach ministry, and we are so grateful to God, and to you, for having enabled us to be instruments in serving these brothers and sisters of ours, who have been neglected and forgotten by society but are nonetheless children of God, in whose hearts the call of God can be awakened, and so lead them to spiritual conversion and reconciliation. Training more missionaries, both priests and laity, means that we have still more people involved in this pastoral outreach, which is transforming lives.” 

Your help has allowed them to extend their prison outreach to 10 centers in this port city, thereby benefiting over 10,000 people. Today, the impact of their work is extending well beyond the prison walls. For example, they have organized a choir, made up of female prisoners and prisoners’ children. They were even invited to perform at a cultural event in the city. In September 2024, representatives of the outreach ministry were also invited to attend the Eucharistic Congress in the capital, Quito, and speak about their work. And they have also been involved in many other events and meetings in the region, so that the prison outreach ministry in Guayaquil is becoming a model for others elsewhere. 

Our sincerest thanks for your help! 

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