PRISON FELLOWSHIP BLOG

It’s a New Year, the time for making resolutions that we never intend to keep! That’s not quite true, of course. It’s good for us to work toward goals and dreams for the future, but let’s face it – it’s hard to keep our resolutions; if we’d all lost all the weight that’d we’d committed to every New Year, none of us would even exist anymore!

Each year, Prison Fellowship recognizes volunteers and employees who have made a difference in the lives of prisoners and their families by presenting them with the Shining Star Award.  In the coming weeks, the blog will highlight some of the 2012 Shining Star recipients and their work.

Jeffrey Leonard never expected to be free from a lifelong cycle of crime and addiction. He envisioned himself going back behind the walls every time he was released. “The first thing I’d do when I left prison was buy a gun,” he confesses.

Cary White, one of the first graduates of the Prisoners to Pastors program (a joint effort between Prison Fellowship and World Impact), has released a new book for Christians considering entering full-time ministry.

The book, Spiritual Foundations of the Christian Worker: The Life of Timothy Curriculum (Volume 1), is intended as a workbook for individual or group study. 

Each year, Prison Fellowship recognizes volunteers and employees who have made a difference in the lives of prisoners and their families by presenting them with the Shining Star Award.  In the coming weeks, the blog will highlight some of the 2012 Shining Star recipients and their work.

The following post originally appeared on the Prison Fellowship International website on January 3, 2011.

Several of my neighbors began the new year suffering from the ill effects of their year-end revelry.  What must have seemed like a lot of fun as the old year drew to a close, morphed into nauseous aching pain as the new year dawned. 

Help pass justice reforms in the States! Please join us in urging legislators to pass these important reforms in Georgia, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?

We first brought you the story of the Cleveland family in 2010. Recently, Prison Fellowship caught up with the father-son Angel Tree duo to learn how they are doing today.

A recently published article tells the story of Steven Pete.  Steven and his brother were both born with a rare genetic disorder called congenital analgesia.  While Steven has the sense of touch, he is unable to experience anything that could be considered pain.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.” – Matthew 18:1-2 (NIV)

It’s easy to judge the success or failure of a ministry based on numbers: How big is the building?

Forget Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, and Vixen. Forget Rudolph and the sleigh. These days, Santa Claus rides a Harley-Davidson – or at least that’s how he arrived at the 2012 Angel Tree Christmas party put on by Bethany First Church of the Nazarene.

Dear friends, Let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

Around the country, Angel Tree coordinators and volunteers are busy displaying the love of God to prisoners and their families as they prepare for Christmas.