Hello I’m Anth Dent,
I’m the managing chaplain at HMP Low Newton, a Womens prison in the North East of England.
If someone had said to me 15yrs ago that I’d be working as a prison Chaplain, I would have said, “you must be having a laugh”.
God had other plans.
We were living the dream in a beautiful little village on the Cumbrian border. I was the Children’s and Families worker at a small Methodist Church in the village. My wife was the manager in the village preschool, and our youngest daughter went to the village school. It was wonderful, it felt like being on holiday as we walked through our village every day. It was so comfortable.
We were surrounded by the beauty of creation. Leighton Moss was just around the corner. (Leighton Moss is a nature reserve and not a racing driver as my wife once thought)
We saw God do incredible things in that village: children’s and youth ministry thriving, great connections with the village school and with the Anglican Church in the village. All was good.
Six years in and guess what, God had other plans.
I’ve discovered “God send me” Let your will be done as it is in heaven” is a very dangerous prayer.
Picture this…………I’ve just collected my daughter from school on a beautiful spring day, the birds are singing, the cows are mooing and the first cut of crass is in the air. I’m sat watching my daughter play in the village park, on route home. The park is next to a small village pub and the beer garden surrounded by a dry-stone wall is strategically placed, enabling me to not only supervise my daughter but have small glass of mead (half a lager). As I take a sip, looking at my beautiful surroundings God clearly said to me “stop admiring the view Anth”. Nooooooooo! “But I love the view!. It was then I remembered the dangerous prayer “send me Lord, let your will be done”.
To cut a very long story short………I ended up in prison!!! NOT as a prisoner but as a Chaplain back home in the not so grim Northeast.
I love it!!! The view is slightly different, trees replaced with barbed wire and gates, but oh my word - if you ever want to see what God can do!
Please, whatever you do, pray this prayer: “Lord send me, let your will be done as it is in heaven”.
Strap in and be amazed!