PRISON FELLOWSHIP: Christmas

The Angel Tree sleigh ride has begun! Three Prison Fellowship interns are traveling from Virginia to Tampa to connect with Angel Tree churches, their volunteers, and families affected by incarceration at Angel Tree parties down the East Coast.

Last Christmas, 551 children of prisoners in Tampa went unsponsored at Christmastime, so this year, Angel Tree is raising awareness for these kids through local marketing efforts.

When our kids were growing up, Christmas was a joyful, relaxing time for our family. Our son and daughter would look forward to the Christmas break with increasing excitement as the days got shorter and darker.

But imagine, instead, a child who dreads Christmas.

I’ve been to lots of prisons, but this past week was a first: I saw the hula being doing behind bars!

I had the privilege of going to Saguaro Correctional Facility to visit inmates who are from Hawaii, but are doing their time in Arizona.

That was our first Angel Tree Christmas and we are looking forward to our second one this year.

“She felt the love from Angel Tree as a child,” Danielle says, “and that’s what she wanted children with a parent in prison to feel.”

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.

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.”

Jeffery grew up in Port Neches, Texas, where he adopted a criminal lifestyle early on.

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.

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.

"I didn't know how I was ever going to get the girls Christmas gifts. All we had was a tree."

It was Christmas. My husband was in prison. Haranguing thoughts constantly harassed me.

How can I possibly forgive him? How can I ever live this down? How can I go on?

That was twenty-three years ago.  Last Sunday, I fingered an Angel Tree ornament.

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?

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.