PRISON FELLOWSHIP BLOG

This week, “America ReFramed” aired its feature-length documentary on the lives of incarcerated moms: “Mothers of Bedford.”

“America ReFramed” is a television series bringing its viewers a “snapshot of the transforming American life.”  Within the last few decades the number of incarcerated women in America has more than doubled, and today, 80 percent of female inmates are biological mothers to school-aged children.

In Larry’s state, a study showed that more than four out of five prisoners who successfully completed one of Prison Fellowship’s intensive reentry programs haven’t returned to prison since release.

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.

At Prison Fellowship, we see many prisoners transformed into new people with changed hearts because they've met Jesus. And when these prisoners are released into society and faced with the temptations of the free world, their new faith is often what helps them resist returning to their former way of life.

There aren’t too many things these days on which Republicans and Democrats agree.  Partisanship is high, and considering that this is an election year, the incentive for both parties to work together to solve problems is low.

There is, however, at least one issue that has elicited support from both liberals and conservatives: prison reform.

Please pray that God will pave the way for Eric to return home to his daughter, and eventually, to return to prison as a volunteer to share his softball ministry.

We think a lot about restoration at Prison Fellowship Ministries. We believe that restoration is the theme of God’s activity throughout Scripture – and in the present day, too. Since we want to take our cue from Him, we work and pray to make restoration the goal of everything we do with prisoners, returning citizens, families, financial partners, and everyone in between.

From March 5 until April 20, Kent McKeever of Waco, Texas, wore orange prison clothes each day. He wore them to the grocery store, to the movies, to run a race, and even to jury duty.

McKeever, a youth pastor and lawyer, explains why he donned prison garb throughout Lent: “Even though it wasn’t real and I could explain myself and take it off at anytime, wearing the orange prison uniform gave me an opportunity to listen to the songs of the oppressed in ways I could never hear and experience as a white male with a middle-class, professional background.”

Never underestimate what He can do with humble hearts totally surrendered to His plans and purposes for the world.

On a recent visit to a prison I met a man I’ll call “Tom.”

Tom’s past is typical of many stories I hear. He is a repeat, nonviolent drug offender. By day, on the outside, he was a truck driver, but he also sold drugs to supplement his income.

With another Tax Day recently passed, Americans are once again reminded of the monetary costs needed to maintain an ordered society.  We are also reminded that not all of the money collected for this purpose is used as effectively or as efficiently as it could be.

The message of our Savior’s power is just as applicable within the prison walls as it is in our communities.

Last Easter, Prison Fellowship Ministries® President and CEO, Jim Liske, visited the Central Florida Reception, a large prison camp with different wings for prisoners who need hospice care or are too young to be housed with the general population.

In the chapel, Jim preached about Timothy, who grew up without a father, and told the young men, “No one is disqualified from God’s grace.”

“If you could have a window in your cell, what place from your past would it look out to?”

A prisoner I’ll call Jared is getting ready to be one of the first graduates of a new Prison Fellowship pre-release unit. This is his third time behind bars. He has spent most of his life as a drug dealer and a petty thief, governed by that troublesome four-letter word: self.