PRISON FELLOWSHIP: In-Prison

For moms and dads behind bars, Christmas can be a particularly difficult time of the year. Separated from their sons and daughters, these parents struggle to connect with their children—to let them know that they care for them and remember them, even when distance and iron bars keep them apart for the holidays.

The following column originally appeared in the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, a national news site that covers juvenile justice issues daily, and appears here with permission.

The other day I visited a young black man from Philadelphia doing time for an armed robbery.

Katherine Thompson recently served as a policy intern with Justice Fellowship.  A version of the following article originally appeared on the House of Margaret Thatcher website, and is used here with permission.

If I could attend church in prison every week, I would.

T. J. has been volunteering inside the Carol S. Vance Unit in Richmond, Texas, for about five years. The time spent behind the walls there has been life-changing.

“I can’t tell you what a wonderful experience this has been for me,” T.

The following story is written by Jeff Freeman, a prisoner at the Pamlico Correctional Institution. It was forwarded to Prison Fellowship by Don Fulford, volunteer chairman for the Nehemiah Project, which seeks to “reach, reconcile, and restore the men at the Wake Correctional Center” in North Carolina.

By God’s grace, I have never served a sentence, but the men and women I am blessed to encounter in prison always teach me about following Jesus.

Recently, I was privileged to spend an entire day in prison with hundreds of prisoners and their families.

My love for the Lord ignited a desire to give my time behind bars to writing in-depth exegetical papers and doing ministry unto the Lord. This is all hard work, but it is a labor of love. It is the least I can do for all He has done for me.

God has made all of us to be leaders in the sphere of influence given to us. Some of the most important and precious work we do with prisoners is to help them realize that they, too, have this potential and calling to be leaders.

Meditaciones y oraciones para los hombres y las mujeres que están en la cárce

Meditations and Prayers for Men and Women in Prison