Although he no longer lives in Taiwan, Brantingham flew in this month to organize the annual Christmas party for foreign inmates at the Taipei Prison.
This year, the party was held on Dec. 17. A variety of food was prepared to cater to the varying appetites of the inmates.
On Thursday, volunteers from several English-speaking churches assembled at Oasis Christian Fellowship in Tianmu to pack more than a hundred personalized "goodie bags" for the inmates.
Each huge red plastic bag, labeled individually with an inmate's name and identification number, contained goodies such as copies of English-language news magazines and English novels, a bottle of body lotion, coffee, a toothbrush and soap.
"Could you help me find this inmate by this name and this number, and put this bar of soap in his bag? His skin is very dry," asked Bajoras, passing a bar of soap to another volunteer.
According to Brantingham, the ministry itself has a small budget and is sponsored by the participating churches.
"Churches such as the Taipei International Church, Oasis Christian Fellowship and Friendship Presbyterian Church have supplied both manpower and donations," Brantingham said. "During the Christmas seasons, some churches have special offerings for the Christmas party."
On the day of the Christmas party, over 80 Christian volunteers, many of them foreigners, arrived at the prison to set up a feast for the foreign inmates.
Present were a group of Catholic nuns from Europe and Japan, who brought in their homemade foods for the inmates whom they frequently visit.
Thai and Indonesian missionaries offered ethnic delicacies for the inmates involved in their ministries.
Representatives from the trade and economics offices of a Southeast Asian country and a European country also made appearances and brought with them gifts to show their cares for the inmates, especially those who were their compatriots.
Six long tables were barely enough to hold the overflowing amount of food. On one side of the room were Chinese dishes, including Cantonese-style roast duck and pork; on the other were Western-style food such as fried chicken, mashed potatoes and a stack of 90 boxes of large pizzas.
Trays of sushi, donuts and cakes and drinks such as soda, tea and coffee were also served.
After the warden gave a word of encouragement and a pastor offered a prayer, the Christmas feast officially began. Inmates excitedly got in line to receive their favorite foods from volunteers.
Upon seeing the amount of food -- enough to feed an entire army -- one would think there would have been a lot of leftovers. However, as if a tornado had passed through the tables, within the next two hours every single dish was wiped out.
Several inmates stood up to sing songs of praise and read Bible verses out loud. The smiles on their faces said it all.
"It is sobering to see the same guys year after year," Brantingham said. "It just hits home how long they've been in here."
Leaving the prison, and looking up the concrete walls and barbed wires, one could not help but wonder if these foreign inmates would ever get out.
Maybe it is what faith offers to these inmates -- a sense of hope that one day, they may go beyond these walls and be reunited with their loved ones in their homelands.
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