There are two basic ways of approaching our lives. One has to do with borders. When we are preoccupied with borders, we constantly ask ourselves, How close can I get to the edge? How fast can I drive and not get pulled over?
Thirteen-year-old Wyatt walked into an Arkansas church one December evening. His aunt had insisted that he go, but she wouldn’t tell him why.
He looked around the room and saw kids decorating cookies, making bracelets, creating Christmas ornaments, and taking goofy pictures in the photo booth.
Kylie was devastated when her mom passed away from a serious illness just weeks before Christmas. The only family the little girl had left was her dad – but he would be in prison for many more years. Kylie never felt more alone, but the hopelessness in her heart fell away when Angel Tree gave her a Christmas she could cherish forever.
At an Angel Tree summer camp, I was walking down the beach with a boy named Jackson.*
Jackson, about 12 years old, was eager to engage me. He told me all about school and his likes and dislikes. When I asked him about camp, he responded, “Camp is awesome … but my foster home is not.
“I remember not being able to communicate how I felt,” Rita says. “I just knew I didn’t feel right because I didn’t have a father.”
Athletic events have proven to be a successful channel for encouraging all different kinds of people to get involved in prison ministry.
Jeffery Hopper has a picture of himself and his daughter, Amanda, sitting on the couch when she was just a little girl.
“She adored me. I was her world,” Jeffery remembers. “I destroyed it by going to prison.”
“We’ll All Go Down Together”Jeffery grew up in Port Neches, Texas, where he adopted a criminal lifestyle early on.
The long-running PBS children’s show Sesame Street has added a new character.
On a recent show, Alex, a young boy, reveals to his friends that his father is in prison. “All this talk about my dad and where he is got me really upset,” he tells them, “… [I’m upset] because of where he is … he’s in jail.”
At a recent conference in England I had the opportunity to hear Bill Hybels, senior pastor of Willow Creek. Bill has often said that “the local church is the hope of the world.” I couldn’t agree more! As the Body of Christ, who is the Light of the World, the local church is God’s Plan A to heal the woundedness of individuals, families, and the culture.
Being a father is hard work. Today’s dads have to be part counselor, part confidant, part disciplinarian, part encourager, part teacher, and part advocate. A good dad has to be aware of all the things happening in his kids’ lives, and be available when those kids have questions, concerns, or fears.
At a graduation ceremony for students completing Prison Fellowship’s four-year Prisoners to Pastors program, a tearful dad confessed to me, “I thought my son would never complete anything but a prison sentence!”
We were at South Bay Correctional Institution in Florida.
For most prisoners’ children, summer camp is only a dream. But your partnership gives an Angel Tree child the chance to hear that Jesus loves them.
Shatori, Anthony, and Diondre have missed their daddy – he’s been in prison. Ten-year-old Shatori has dreams of cheerleading and becoming a policewoman.
Sixteen-year-old Jesus is artistic. Twelve-year-old Angelina loves acting out scenes from her favorite TV shows. Ten-year-old Gabriela is a little mother hen. At almost nine years old, Martha Patricia is nurturing, and knows when someone is really hurting. Eight-year-old Emilie is a sassy little diva.
A Seattle Times article recounts the story of 12-year-old Orlando, a boy whose father fled from the law and whose mother was committed to a mental hospital. Not yet a teenager, Orlando was left in charge of seven siblings, including a set of triplets still in diapers.