December 21, 2015
Langley House Trust is a Christian organisation. However although Christ is central to our values and is at the heart of our organisation, we support people of any faith or of none. We also do not proselytise or force our belief on anyone in our care.
I have often asked myself the question what difference does a faith-based organisation make to an offender’s successful rehabilitation?
A second chance
Christians fundamentally believe in a second chance for every person on earth. Each Christian believes that Christ died for them and through His death and subsequent resurrection our individual wrongdoings are forgiven and ‘our slate’ is wiped clean so to speak. So the concept of a second chance or a new start is central to our faith and our own personal journey with God.
At Langley, we believe that everyone deserves a second chance. One in which they can choose to reform, to turn away from their past mistakes and wrong decisions and a chance to build a new future for themselves. Clearly we need to establish boundaries and safeguards during this process of reform to ensure that those in our care and others are safeguarded.
Faith leads to persistence
The Christian faith and our belief that individuals can change causes us to be persistent in seeking change, not only in ourselves but in our residents’ lives. We create environments where we actively encourage self improvement and change in others. We help residents to see and believe a positive future for themselves.
As a Christian organisation how we treat our residents is important to us. We believe that each person in our care has been uniquely created by God and that God desires a better future for them. We want each resident to fulfil their God-given potential although we recognise that some we support are so far away from this at present. However each small step towards this goal is an achievement.
History doesn’t need to define destiny
We believe that each resident deserves respect and should not be condemned by their previous actions – their history does not need to be their destiny.
As Christians we also believe in a spiritual side to life and that God can intervene in supernatural ways which go against the physical circumstances we see. In our Western society I am aware that such beliefs are sometimes frowned upon or indeed mocked! However I know our work is supported by a faithful network of people who pray for positive outcomes in our work. I believe this makes a difference.
Finally, as a faith-based organisation we believe that by offering a nurturing environment we can promote growth in our residents’ lives whilst maintaining boundaries and rules to ensure both they and others remain safe.
This week’s blog is from Tracy Wild, CEO, Langley House Trust.
