by Cal Uomoto

(This is a fictionalized account of a detainee touched by World Relief’s Immigration Detention Ministry. The man it is based on is a real person, one of eight victimized men from Sri Lanka. Bethany members involved in this ministry include Cal Uomoto, Jane Frissell, Gil Ward, Jordan Uomoto, and Todd Holdridge.)

Lando was ready to vomit. At the airport, Immigration officials informed him that his visa to work in Alaska was fraudulent. That was only the first shock. Then came the humiliation of being taken in handcuffs like a common criminal, herded onto the crowded bus with other desperate souls, and deposited at the Northwest Detention Center. He was fingerprinted, his mug was shot. He was told to take off all his clothes and don the dark blue detention uniform. No dignity.

The despair hit him like grenade shards. He had been duped by slick promises of fast cash; he trusted the wrong people. He was unlucky. More than a year’s wages spent on the visa was down the toilet. He had borrowed cash from mafia-like loan sharks at a high interest rate. Stupid to deal with people like that. No way to repay the loans while locked up! Disastrous for his entire family. No dowry now for his daughter. Bad karma. He had placed his family in danger. He was truly cursed.

Now, instead of the freedom of his family home, life was totally regimented. Up at 5:30, morning detainee count, breakfast, lunch, dinner, evening count at 10:00, lights out. Instead of working in a cannery for $8.00 and hour he could work in the kitchen for $1.00 a day. The boredom gave way to hopelessness.

In those dark days, Lando began attending the Christian worship services in the Detention Center. The songs touched him. There was joy in the services. There, for the first time, he heard the Good news. Unlucky as he was, there was a God who loved him. As bad as his karma was, God could turn it for good. He was intrigued and continued to attend.He began to read the Bible. As his faith grew he felt he could commit his life to this loving God.

Because of the tsunami in Asia, Immigration allowed him to be released. In three months he could get work authorization. A church volunteer found a room he could rent. Bethany Presbyterian paid a month of his rent. Other people chipped in for a few more months. Soon he would be able to work. He attended church on the outside. Hope glimmered.

Then the hammer fell. Immigration took him back into custody. Time to be deported. He was despondent. But he decided to trust his newfound God. When Cal Uomoto asked him how he was, Lando answered that if this was God’s will, he would return to Sri Lanka. Somehow, God would work things out. With God, there was hope.

Within days he was back at home with his family. He shared his newfound faith with them. They prayed together as a family. He became part of a church. As an expression of serving the Lord, he opened his home to a Bible Study.

Lando had returned empty-handed and his income was not great. But, good news, volunteers in the U.S. raised funds to help with payments, and over the next two years his loan was totally repaid. He saved a dowry and his daughter married a believer. He felt greater freedom to serve God. So, the next year he started a second bible study in his home. He feels truly blessed.