For many years, a maximum-security prison in Medellin, Colombia, held this dubious title. The name of the prison is ironic—Bellavista (meaning “Beautiful View” in Spanish). For most of its history it was anything but beautiful.
Bellavista before
Medellin is Colombia’s second largest city and known for its cocaine cartels. Bellavista was once the most feared prison in the country with an average of two violent deaths daily. Its inmates included drug dealers, assassins, guerrillas, paramilitary and gang leaders, petty criminals and corrupt public officials.
One major factor was overcrowding. Built for 1,500, it had a population of 6,500. Brutal cellblock bosses ruled and even ran an extensive drug and weapons trade from within. They controlled the lives of inmates charging them “rent” for their cell and protection. If they couldn’t pay, they were often killed.
Local authorities estimated that 70-80 percent of crimes in the Medellín area were ordered from Bellavista. In 1989 a riot broke out that could have ended in a bloodbath if the warden had called in the military.
The turning point
Instead, the warden gave permission to Oscar Osorio (a former inmate and now volunteer chaplain) to hold a prayer meeting inside Bellavista’s walls. An incredible moving of God’s Spirit literally quelled the rioting. Prisoners surrendered their weapons to Osorio and his small band of Christian inmates and joined them in prayer and worship. A remarkable transformation was beginning.
It continued through the 1990s with needed prison reforms leading to better health, security, vocational training and recreation. In 2000, a nonviolence training course was conducted (with about 300 inmates trained in the first month) making the national news. It led to a dramatic drop in the recidivism rate. Of the 2000 inmates trained in Bellavista during the next seven years, only 10 percent committed a crime again.
The homicide rate dropped from 200 per year to no killings in over five years. Many inmates now earn money from prison jobs or study and learn new skills in prison schools. Government and business work together to help released inmates find work and train youth in schools and neighborhoods to keep them out of prison.
Bellavista after
Today Bellavista is a changed place. Hardened criminals have come to faith. Even non-Christian inmates say that Jesus Christ has become the “Lord of Bellavista”. Regular prayer, fasting and evangelism take place and are encouraged. More than 500 prisoners attend Bible training programs and 24 inmates are on the leadership team of a church formed inside the prison.
Every day prisoners proclaim their newfound freedom in Christ on a half-hour, live radio program broadcast directly from the prison to the whole region. Radio contacts are followed up by local churches which have given over 1,000 Bibles to people seeking God and over 25,000 evangelistic books to children. There is even a Bible institute in the prison which trains inmates for ministry within the prison and after their release. Bellavista’s example is spreading to other prisons too. One observer remarked, “Across Colombia, God is raising up his church behind bars.”
A changed inmate testified, “I was rebellious and scoffed at those who talked about Jesus. What difference could he ever make in a hellhole like this? But I will never forget the day I put aside my pride and turned to the Christ I saw lived before me by my brothers. Jesus is a living presence with them and I could not resist his unconditional love. There are no circumstances that can shut out the love of God. As I worship and adore him, I want the whole world to experience the deep peace that is mine!’
True to its name, the transformation at Bellavista has been a beautiful thing to behold. It’s not exactly “Heaven on earth”… but it’s no longer Hell.
Rob Weatherby is a retired pastor.
