Prison Fellowship Academy volunteer John Markle has received an award from the state of Texas. We caught up with John to get a better sense of why he volunteers and why he can’t imagine stopping.
What made Lori a “perfect fit” for prison ministry wasn’t only her education or experience. It was a willingness to serve.
Actor Scott William Winters opens up about his experience volunteering behind bars with Prison Fellowship.
"Sitting in a small group in prison isn't any different from sitting in a small group in my living room."
For the bulk of the past 10 years, I’ve been on one side of Angel Tree®. As a writer for Prison Fellowship® on a national level, I get to hear and write about all of the amazing things that happen during December and beyond, as children and incarcerated parents around the country reconnect through gifts purchased and delivered by volunteers.
One of the most endearing stories Chuck Colson shared is found in his book Loving God. He wrote of Myrtie Howell—a 91 year-old woman he met in an “old folks’ home” in Georgia.
Myrtie was born poor, had only one year of schooling, and was married at age 17.
I’ve taught a Bible study in the local church for over 25 years. Once a week I would arrive about 15 minutes early, get my materials out, and chat with any of the women who came early while we waited for the others to arrive.
“Justice that restores. What does that mean? Who are we restoring? Where are we restoring them to?”
Prison Fellowship President and CEO James Ackerman asks these questions to a recent gathering of volunteers in Tampa, Florida. The answer, he suggests, can be found in the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Learn to do right.
Twenty-five percent of the prisoners confined to the Goose Creek Corrections Center near Wasilla, come from the “bush country”—the primitive and roadless area on Alaska’s west coast. The area is largely unchurched, and high rates of suicide, alcohol, and drug abuse are plaguing the remote communities.
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.
One of the consequences of over two decades of “tough on crime” legislation has been the steady increase in elderly residents in our nation’s jails and prisons. A 2015 Human Rights Watch report notes that the number of prisoners above the age of 55 has increased threefold in less than a decade, and that many of those men and women will remain incarcerated well into their 70s and 80s—if they leave prison at all.
For most people familiar with it, talk of Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree program brings to mind images of Christmas presents and seasonal parties with cookies and carols playing in the background. So you might be surprised to know that summer is a very busy time for Angel Tree and its mission to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the families of prisoners.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. – 2 Corinthians 5:17
Increasingly, the great concern of legislators and departments of correction has been finding better ways to reduce recidivism—that tendency of former prisoners to relapse into criminal behavior.
When it comes to helping prisoners transition successfully to life in their communities, some of the most important work occurs well before these men and women ever leave the correctional facility. In the most recent post to our video blog series, field director Denise Harris talks about some of the great things happening with Prison Fellowship’s intensive, in-prison programming.