The growth of evangelical Christianity behind prison bars in El Salvador is giving gangsters a way to break the spiral of violence.
Such is the power of the Chrisitan revival that hardened criminals can be seen weeping and bowing their heads in prayer.
Brutal ‘mara’ street gangs and chronic poverty have made El Salvador one of the most murderous countries on the planet.
Former members of the Barrio 18 gang participate in a Christian service of the Torre Fuerte (Strong Tower) church inside the San Francisco Gotera prison, in San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador, March 9, 2018
The growth of evangelical Christianity behind prison bars in El Salvador is giving gangsters a way to break the spiral of violence
Members of the Final Trompeta (The Final Trumpet) evangelical church learn how to cut hair at the San Francisco Gotera prison, in San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador, March 9, 2018. Former members of the Barrio 18 gang abandoned their gang and decided to form two churches in order to leave their violent past
Such is the power of the Chrisitan revival that hardened criminals can be seen worshiping, weeping and bowing their heads in prayer
Rivera, an ex-hitman from the powerful Barrio 18 gang, speaks to rows of men with spidery black tattoos on their arms, necks and faces, delivering a message of salvation: God had rescued them from violence. Returning to gang life would mean death.
‘We used to say that the gang was our family, but God took the blindfold off our eyes,’ Rivera, 36, told Reuters.
He is dressed like the other inmates in a white t-shirt, shorts and plastic sandals.
Former members of the Barrio 18 gang participate in a Christian service of the Torre Fuerte (Strong Tower) church inside the San Francisco Gotera prison, in San Francisco Gotera, El Salvado
The majority of about 1,500 inmates at the jail want to find redemption, says prison director Oscar Benavides
Members of the Torre Fuerte (Strong Tower) evangelical church perform a drama at the San Francisco Gotera prison, in San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador, March 9, 2018
Some weep silently while he reads from a black bible. Others sing hymns, clapping and waving arms enthusiastically. They chorus: ‘Amen.’
By embracing Christianity, these men can leave their gangs without retaliation, Rivera says.
But if they do not show real devotion, their former gang-mates may kill them, fearing they will join other gangs and become enemies.
Convicted murderer Rivera’s own transformation came behind bars, when, battered by years of running from police and enemy gangs, unable to see his son, he turned to prayer.
MS-13 gang member Alvaro Alexander Alvarado, known as ‘Sniper’ is detained during the Cuscatlan Operation under charges of money laundering, in Ilopango, El Salvador, February 15, 2018. Brutal ‘mara’ street gangs and chronic poverty have made El Salvador one of the most murderous countries on the planet
Hammocks are seen inside the San Francisco Gotera prison, in San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador, March 9, 2018. Former members of the Barrio 18 gang abandoned their gang and decided to form two churches in order to leave their violent past
Members of the Torre Fuerte (Strong Tower) evangelical church take part in classes at the San Francisco Gotera prison, in San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador, April 10, 2018
Oscar Alirio Montano Amaya, a member of the Final Trompeta (The Final Trumpet) evangelical church poses for a picture at the San Francisco Gotera prison, in San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador, April 10, 2018. Amaya was part of a hip-hop group called ‘Gangster Fury’, today he is a deacon of the church and has been a Christian for two years
When God appeared in a dream, prophesying Rivera would have his own flock, he became a pastor, he says. He is now half-way through an eight-year sentence for criminal association.
Evangelical Christianity has grown rapidly in Central America in the past decade, adding color to local politics.
Dozens of lawmakers embrace it, defending hardline positions against gay rights and abortion.
Members of the Final Trompeta (The Final Trumpet) evangelical church play ball at the San Francisco Gotera prison, in San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador, April 10, 2018
Michael Douglas Hernandez, a member of the Final Trompeta (The Final Trumpet) evangelical church poses for a picture at the San Francisco Gotera prison, in San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador, April 10, 2018. ‘I am the librarian at the church and my job is to give reading time to my brothers. I became a Christian two years ago because god touched my heart,’ he said
Members of the La Final Trompeta (The Final Trumpet) evangelical church work in a tailoring workshop at the San Francisco Gotera prison, in San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador, March 9, 2018
The fervor has spilled into jails, where it is welcomed by officials who sense its potential for reforming ex-gangsters.
President Salvador Sanchez Ceren’s government plans to use Gotera as a model of religious rehabilitation it hopes can be replicated.
Two years ago the prison, located about 100 miles east of the capital San Salvador, was almost entirely home to active gang members.
Now, the majority of its approximately 1,500 inmates want to find redemption, says prison director Oscar Benavides.
The conversions ‘show the country that it is possible to rehabilitate those in the Mara Salvatrucha or other gangs’, said Security Minister Mauricio Ramirez, dismissing criticisms that the government should do more.
The Mara Salvatrucha, a notorious cross-border crime group also known as MS-13, was founded by Salvadorans in Los Angeles in the 1980s.
President Donald Trump has blamed MS-13 and illegal immigration from Central America as a major source of violence in the United States.
Outside the relative tranquility of the prison, danger permeates the streets of El Salvador.
Rodolfo de Jesus Cornejo, member of the Final Trompeta (The Final Trumpet) evangelical church poses for a picture in the prison orchard at the San Francisco Gotera prison, in San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador, April 10, 2018. ‘People on the outside don’t trust us very much, they think we can’t change. But yes, we can show them,’ he said
Former members of the Barrio 18 gang participate in a Christian service of the Torre Fuerte (Strong Tower) church inside the San Francisco Gotera prison, in San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador, March 9, 2018
By embracing Christianity, these men can leave their gangs without retaliation, prison official say
Roberto Carlos Valencia Cruz, Member of the Torre Fuerte (Strong Tower) evangelical church poses for a picture at the San Francisco Gotera prison, in San Francisco Gotera, El Salvador, April 10, 2018. ‘I was tired of living the disordered life of the gang, the Lord put me in the most appropriate place where he is pulling me out and teaching my brothers to read and write,’ he said
Crime has fallen from a record high in 2015, but at 60 per 100,000 inhabitants last year, the murder rate is still one of the highest worldwide.
Inside Gotera, where some inmates are serving 100-year sentences for accumulated crimes, colorful drawings of angels and prophets decorate the walls alongside biblical quotations.
Inmates wearing shirts emblazoned with ‘Soldier of Christ’ and ‘Jesus Saved My Life’ study prayer books, weave hammocks and tend to a garden.
Rodolfo Cornejo, 34, with intricate black tattoos circling his neck, started praying and growing cucumbers when he entered the prison on a 12-year sentence for carrying firearms, wanting to leave the rough life that had isolated him from his kids.
‘People on the outside don’t trust us very much: they think we can’t change. But yes, we can show them.’