Church of the poor - Jesus Army

ON THE INSIDE
OUTSIDE
prisoner freed
For 20 years, Ann Brown was caught up
in a life of drug use drew her deeper into
crime, addiction, despair – and prison.
She tells Jesus Life how she was set free.
For information on the Jesus
Fellowship’s Prison Release
Programme, write to: Phil Ferris,
Jesus Fellowship Central Offices,
Nether Heyford, Northants
NN7 3LB tel: 01327 344533
or e-mail: info@jesus.org.uk
IN THE SEVENTIES Ann led
a double life. Neighbours
knew her as “a bit of a hippy
who walked miles with her
dogs”.
But by night she became a different
person.
Gradually the parties she
went to got wilder and more
violent. Ann had a brown belt in
judo and karate and in her forties
took up kick-boxing.
Life became like a paperback
thriller blurb. Homegrown pot.
Arrested for possession. Holloway
Prison. Arrested for violence.
Banned from the county.
Eight years on the run. Ann says:
“If I’d known what I was letting
myself in for, I would never
have let things go as far as they
did, but by the time I realised
how far into the world of drugs
and violence I was, it was too
late to get out. I was powerless
to change.
“Over the years I drifted in
and out of addiction, using
every drug imaginable. Things
were spiralling out of control
so fast that I didn’t have time to
think about the consequences.
Time had started to run out for
me and I did time in Holloway
Prison for possession of drugs.
“A few years later I was banished
from the county on two
occasions due to criminal activity.
I lost my home, my wealth
and my family, everything was
snatched from me. I felt that I
could never forgive myself.
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“I had reached the point of
despair and went into selfdestruct
mode, getting stoned
from morning to night and fell
once again back into heroin
addiction. I had so many AKA’s
(aliases) that I didn’t know
which one was the real me. I
was beyond caring; all that mattered
was another bag of smack
to numb the pain. Close friends
had died from drug abuse. I was
lost and didn’t know who I was
or where life was going.
“The turn around came after I
did cold-turkey to get off heroin.
I knew I was in danger of either
a long time in prison or death. It
was time for a reality check. And
a few weeks later I was beaten
up so badly I ended up in intensive
care. That was the turning
point.
“An old friend of mine who
had become a Christian invited
me to a Jesus Army meeting,
and I went along.
“That day I asked Jesus to
forgive me and free me from
the chains which were holding
me. Things started to change
immediately: it was a dramatic
transformation. I was high, but
not the same high that drugs
had given me. I felt so alive and
like a weight had been lifted off
me.
“At my baptism in water it
was as though a bright light
cut through my whole body; I
felt clean and forgiven. I was
amazed that this could be happening
to someone like me.
“I now volunteer at the Northampton
Jesus Centre. I am often
surrounded by the oppressed,
addicted and those who have
been in prison, like I have. My
heart is with these people; I can
look into their eyes and see the
pain, hold their hand and feel
their suffering.
“Now I often write to and
visit those in prison. On one
occasion, visiting a prison, we
prayed together and God’s presence
was so powerful that the
inmate started shaking, crying
and laughing right there in the
visiting room!
“I believe God has called me
to reach out to people and bring
them out of darkness into His
kingdom.”
JL
God’s presence was so powerful that
the inmate started shaking, crying and
laughing right there in the visiting room!
Jesus Life One/2008 Page 25
Photo is not Ann