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Posted January 15, 2013
“We have seamstresses sitting with nothing to do,” a Florida Department of Corrections official told Raeanne Hance, the regional executive director for Prison Fellowship® in the Southeast.
To save money as 2012 wound to a close, the FDOC had prepared to close seven prisons and four work camps. Inmates at the affected facilities were sitting idly after their regular programming ground to a halt for weeks before the planned consolidation.
But Raeanne had an inspired idea:
Posted January 14, 2013
What was the most memorable part of the recent Christmas season? Was it receiving the perfect gift? Seeing friends and family? Perhaps it was a grand Christmas dinner, or seeing the look on the faces of children or grandchildren as they enjoyed all of the joy and laughter that comes with the holidays?
For Pastor Sam Smith of Michigan, the most memorable moment of the season came not from something he received, but from the gifts
Posted January 10, 2013
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.
“There’s no place like home; there’s no place like home; there’s no place like home. …” the familiar chant from Dorothy in Kansas in the Wizard of Oz classic
Posted December 12, 2012
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.
This large Nazarene church in Bethany, Okla., is one of more than 7,800 groups that have joined forces to reach children of the incarcerated this Christmas – but their Angel Tree party is unique.
Posted December 11, 2012
Meeting Santa at the Angel Tree Christmas party. (Photo by Kathy Marvin / Sierra Vista Herald)
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. Presents are being purchased and parties scheduled so that children of inmates may know that their parents are thinking about them during the holidays.
A recent story in the Sierra Vista Herald looks at how Angel
Posted December 10, 2012
Saturday morning I was in an inner-city elementary school in Washington, D.C., where a friend of my daughter is a teacher. What I saw and heard there broke my heart. Ninety percent of those kids lived in the projects, and despite the earnest efforts of teachers, many of them are reading far below grade level.
I sat down with the school principal and asked her how many of the kids had a parent in prison.
“All of
Posted December 6, 2012
Eric will tell you it’s not his parents’ fault that he’s in prison. He started using drugs as a teenager and then, before long, he was selling them. When a drug deal went bad, he killed a would-be customer.
“I wasn’t raised like that,” he says. “My mom and dad, they tried their hardest. Everything I’ve done was my decision.”
But, at age 17, Eric found himself convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Eric’s
Posted November 27, 2012
Through a partnership with the Fellowship of Fathers Foundation, 25,000 copies of a new bestselling book about fatherhood will be made available to Angel Tree dads this Christmas.
In the opening pages of Be a Better Dad Today! 10 Tools Every Father Needs, author Gregory Slayton writes, “I didn’t have much of a dad growing up. I do have some very good memories of him when I was very young, but over time, alcohol and other
Posted November 21, 2012
In a recent opinion piece in The New York Times, writer Hanna Pylvainen asks the provocative question, “What do I owe my neighbor?” She wrestles with this problem after an acquaintance on her block asks him to bail him out of jail, and her deliberations are only complicated when Hurricane Sandy rips through New York, possibly endangering the inmate population of Rikers Island – her neighbor included.
Defining our ethical obligations to our neighbors has always
Posted November 15, 2012
When Lydia Ruano’s first husband was imprisoned for eight years, her three children were sustained by their local church and by Angel Tree®. But when Lydia’s second husband, Luis, was also locked up, she blamed God for putting her through the same trial all over again. She rebelled and turned away from God.
But then a miracle happened!
Luis, who had been an atheist, became a Christian in prison. “He would feed us the Word of God
Posted November 12, 2012
Minister to the Families of the Incarcerated
Family Embraced is a tool kit developed by Angel Tree to help churches take that next step of investment in the lives of prisoners’ children, their caregivers, and their incarcerated parents. It includes a creative combination of videos, facilitated small-group discussions, and group activities that makes it easy to use and flexible. There are eight sessions, which can be covered sequentially and in their entirety, or in a pick-and
Posted November 12, 2012
Here are some suggestions on how your church can continue your ministry throughout the year and encourage prisoners and their children to stay connected even after the Christmas season is over. Regardless of which ministry or activity you select, following a few basic steps can enhance your success and lead to a more meaningful impact in the lives of these children and their families:
Engage a group of volunteers to assist in the planning so that
Posted November 7, 2012
For inmates’ families in western Pennsylvania, Christmas is a little brighter because of God’s work through South Hills Assembly, a congregation that has been doing Angel Tree ministry for 20 years.
The Angel Tree program as South Hills Assembly started with Clarence McMillan, an elderly member who “really had a heart for prisoners,” according to Pastor Rick Kardell, who coordinates the Angel Tree program there. Clarence formed a team at the church that still makes weekly
Posted November 6, 2012
General Contact Information
For all general inquiries call 1-800-206-9764 or email info@pfm.org.
For Angel Tree inquiries call 1-800-55-ANGEL (2-6435).
Mailing Address:
Prison Fellowship
P.O. Box 1550
Merrifield, VA 22116-1550
Have specific questions?
You can use the help button at the bottom right corner of your screen to search our FAQs and contact our online support center.
Posted November 1, 2012
Due to prison overcrowding in his native Hawaii, Shane is serving his time in Arizona—3,000 miles away from his daughter and son.
He won't get out until 2015, but until then, Angel Tree® gives him the opportunity to love his children from afar.
"I want to thank you folks for your Angel Tree program. It has really touched my life. I have a daughter who is twelve and a son who is ten and I've been in