Setting Prisoners Free

I grew up never thinking about fear until it swooped in, surrounded me, consumed me, and constantly reminded me I couldn't escape its vicious stronghold. I was lucky. My home life was safe and secure. I didn't have to face what many children fear daily. I didn't know it then, but I had privilege, because I went to bed every night knowing my parents weren't going to come home drunk and abusive, I knew my house wasn't going to be raided in the middle of the night by the police because of the colour of my skin (Dawn Raids) and I knew there would always be food on our table. I was lucky. I was born with privilege. Those fears and realities that affected some of my classmates and neighbours never crossed my mind, but they certainly set up house in the minds of many of my classmates in the 70s and 80s. My earliest fears had nothing to do with abuse, or hunger, or violence, or deportation, or incarceration. As a young fella, I only remember fearing two things: speaking in ...

I t's been almost 4 years since we arrived in Aotearoa. New Zealand. At the time, we had no intention of making this beautiful country our permanent residence, but after much thought, many discussions and countless prayers, we decided to stay. This decision wasn't easy, it hasn't been easy, and our current journey isn't easy. We're trying to adapt to many new ways, systems, mannerisms, priorities, cultures, battles, heartbreaks, challenges, celebrations, and even a new side of the road to drive on 🤣. We're trying to adapt to a new life. 4 years seems long.. 4 years seems so short. In saying that, our journey is and has been beautiful, exciting, daunting, stressful, strange, enlightening and wonderful. We can predict where our paths may lead, but it doesn't mean we'll end up arriving there. And just because we may end up at a different location than anticipated, it doesn't mean we've failed, because our journeys can be unexpected, unpredictable a...