Prison Fellowship

  • DONATE
    • One-Time
    • Monthly
    • Angel Tree
    • Other Ways to Give
  • GET INVOLVED
    • All Options
    • Subscribe
    • Angel Tree Christmas
    • Start a Fundraiser
    • Pray With Us
    • Justice Action Center
    • Share on Social
Search
  • STORIES
    • Stories
    • Blog
    • Videos
    • The Restoration Series [Videos]
  • WHAT WE DO
    • Why Help Prisoners?
    • What We Do
    • In-Prison
      • Prison Fellowship Academy
      • In-Prison Programs
      • Hope Events
      • Inside Journal
      • Women’s Ministry
      • Create: New Beginnings
    • Angel Tree
      • Register your church or group for Angel Tree
      • Prison Fellowship Angel Tree
      • Angel Tree Christmas
      • Angel Tree Camping
      • Angel Tree Sports Camp
    • Justice Reform
      • Justice Reform
      • Second Chance Month
      • News & Updates
      • Sign the Justice Declaration
      • Get a Copy of Outrageous Justice
    • Warden Exchange
    • Church Partners
    • Corporate Partnerships
    • Preparing Prisoners for Reentry
    • Research and Evaluation
      • Good Citizenship Model®
  • RESOURCES
    • Subscribe to Our Email
    • Support for Friends and Family of Prisoners
      • Resources for Friends and Family of Prisoners
      • Coping with Incarceration
      • Resources for Prisoners
      • Resources for Children of Prisoners
      • Supporting Successful Prisoner Reentry
      • Subscribe To The Hope Connection
    • Resources for Churches and Volunteers
      • Resources for Churches and Volunteers
      • In-Prison Ministry
      • Reentry Ministry
      • Family Ministry
      • Justice Reform
      • Mentoring Ministry
    • Angel Tree Coordinator Training
    • Resources for Chaplains
    • Resources for D.O.C.
    • Justice Reform Resources
    • Create: New Beginnings Book
    • Share on Social
  • ABOUT US
    • Our Beliefs
    • Mission & Vision
    • Financials
      • Financials
      • 2024 Annual Report
    • Employment
    • Contact Us
    • In The News
    • Leadership
    • Chuck Colson
      • About Chuck Colson
      • The Charles Colson Hope Awards

The Look in Their Eyes

October 28, 2013 by Shane Morris

A version of the following article originally appeared on the BreakPoint website.

 

When a parent is sentenced to prison, he or she is not the only one being punished. The children suffer too. How especially tough it is for them at Christmas time.

The Angel Tree® program, which has been part of Prison fellowship’s work for almost three decades, has served six million children and brought the love of Christ as well as reconciliation to countless homes during the Christmas season. Chuck Colson believed deeply in this work. And this year, your help and participation is wanted more than ever!

But do you know the story of Angel Tree? Have you heard why, as John Stonestreet says, it had the power to “bring a tear to Chuck’s eye”? In a recent BreakPoint This Week program, Stonestreet interviewed Mary Kay Beard, the founder of Angel Tree, whose story has inspired a generation of those ministering to the incarcerated. He also talked with Prison Fellowship President and CEO Jim Liske, who explained why Angel Tree is key to the ongoing mission of equipping the Church to make a difference among “the least of these.”

Mary Kay’s biography says that she “was a safe-cracker, a bank robber, and one of America’s most wanted. Arrested in June of 1972, she quickly collected 11 federal indictments and 35 charges against her. But her 180-year sentence turned into a six-year sentence—during which time she asked God to change her hardened heart.”

And that’s exactly what happened. Through her experience in prison, Beard gained a deep appreciation for estrangement and brokenness of the incarcerated from their families, and how a simple act can give hope, and change the lives of those on both sides of the bars.

That’s why she founded Angel Tree, and why she considers it perhaps the greatest way God has used her since He first changed her heart in prison.

“I am both awed and humbled to have been a part of something so enormously effective,” says Mary. “Being there at the beginning—I consider it one of the highest privileges of my life.”

For Mary, Angel Tree represents an awe-inspiring testimony to prisoners and their families of the Gospel: “The very first Christmas gift,” she reminds us, “was a child.” For those desperate for forgiveness and those desperate for a parent’s love, the simple opportunity to give or receive a gift at Christmas breaks down the barriers which isolate family members in prison from those outside, and makes the story of a God who loves us no matter what come to life like few other things.

Want to get involved? Here’s how: Visit www.AngelTree.org. There you can watch an informative video explaining how Angel Tree works, as well as sign your church up to participate. You can also talk to one of the Angel Tree staffers directly by calling 1-800-55-ANGEL.

Filed Under: Angel Tree, Families of Prisoners, Prison Fellowship News & Updates Tagged With: Breakpoint, Mary Kay Beard

SELECT A TOPIC

  • Advocacy & Reentry
  • Angel Tree
  • Families of Prisoners
  • Feature Stories
  • From the CEO
  • Hope Events
  • Inside Journal
  • Press Releases
  • Prison & Prisoners
  • Prison Fellowship Academy
  • Prison Fellowship International
  • Prison Fellowship News & Updates
  • Reentry
  • Second Chance Month
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • Warden Exchange

MOST POPULAR

The California Prison Where Hope is Alive and Well

April 9, 2025

My Story: Tynecia

April 9, 2025

The Pastor Who Got a Second Chance

April 2, 2025

LATEST VIDEOS

WATCH ALL VIDEOS

Join our online community

Facebook Facebook X (Twitter) X (Twitter) Instagram Instagram YouTube YouTube LinkedIn LinkedIn
PF®
PFM®

RECOMMENDED LINKS

  • Ways to Donate
  • Inspirational Stories
  • Angel Tree
  • Prison Fellowship Academy
  • Justice Reform

RESOURCES

  • For Families & Friends of Prisoners
  • For Churches & Angel Tree Volunteers
  • Warden Exchange

JOIN RESTORATION PARTNERS AND WITNESS GOD RESTORE LIVES

Restoration Partners give monthly to bring life-changing prison ministry programs to incarcerated men and women across the country.

 

JOIN NOW
  • CONTACT US
  • EMPLOYMENT
  • PRIVACY
  • FINANCIALS
© 2025 PRISON FELLOWSHIP®

Angel Tree®, Angel Tree Camping®, Angel Tree Sports CampTM, and Warden Exchange® are programs of Prison Fellowship®.