This coming Sunday we’ll celebrate all the moms in our lives – mothers, grandmothers, and special women who have loved us well and helped us become the people we are today.
Lately I’ve been thinking about moms in a unique circumstance – the ones behind bars. Whenever I visit a women’s prison, I’m heartbroken, thinking about all the boys and girls who are growing up separated from their moms. It also makes me sad to see how many of these incarcerated women are my daughter’s age, as I imagine how my wife Cathy and I would feel to see her locked up.
Women are the fastest-growing group in the incarcerated population, and close to 80 percent of them are mothers. These moms are behind bars as a result of poor choices, many of which could make them ill-equipped to be the kind of parents their children need. But they are also women created by God to reflect His image, women who have often suffered awful abuse or untreated mental illness, women who have too rarely received the love and respect we would want all women to experience.
Prison Fellowship’s volunteers and staff work with women behind bars to show them how completely the Father loves them, to help them heal from deep wounds, and to equip moms to be nurturing parents.
These moms have many hurdles to overcome behind bars and after they are released, but by God’s grace and with your prayers and partnership, a future full of redemption and restoration is possible! Learn how you can support moms (and dads, too!) behind bars at www.angeltree.org.