Do you remember the children’s Christmas TV special, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer? I still like to see it every winter. Do you remember the island of misfit toys? I remember as a boy how distressed I would feel seeing those toys with missing parts and parts forced on in the wrong places. I really hated to hear how the toys felt so unloved, unwanted and forgotten. I thought it was just so sad that these toys existed and nobody wanted them. They had no use in life. They were thrown-away toys.
Well, men in prison are kind of like those misfit toys. At first, you look at them and they look just like you and me, but then you get a little closer and you see that in many cases there are parts of them missing and fitting wrongly. But these are parts that make a healthy and whole human being. Or maybe there are parts or experiences attached to these men that should really not be attached to any human being. And very much like the misfit toys, these men are forgotten by the world and often even by their families. It feels like they are thrown away human beings. But how do you throw away a man? What man is not worthy, regardless of his past, to hear the message of the gospel?
This is what the
Kairos Prison Ministry is all about. It is a ministry that brings the message of God’s love and the forgiveness of Jesus Christ to the incarnated and those who watch over them. The ministry has been around since the 70s and is in 31 states and 8 countries. We visit the Kershaw Correctional Institution in Kershaw, South Carolina which is 90 minutes from Christ Central Church.
The center of the ministry is what we call ‘a walk’, which is a four day weekend that takes place twice a year, and Walk #25 took place the third week of March this year. A walk consists of 36 inmates (selected by the prison staff), 40 volunteers, a series of 7 talks and testimonies delivered by the volunteers, dedicated time for small group discussions, chapel & prayer time, worship, and having lunch and dinner together on the prison grounds.
I have been a part of the Kairos Prison Ministry for five years. My role during walk #25 was that of a family table leader. There are six tables and the leader is responsible for facilitating the discussion at the table. I have to admit, my first time doing this was pretty intimidating. But now I really cherish that time. It is a rare opportunity to sit and be there for these men who will trust me with their thoughts, receiving them openly, offering words of encouragement. It is one of the most purposeful times I have experienced. It is a clear experience that has taught me why I am on this earth. It is a family making moment. Prior to the walks, we volunteers have spent five weekends going over training material and reinforcing the message among ourselves that our role at the tables is to listen, listen and love, love. This is so hard to do sometimes, but so very rewarding.
The ages of the men ranges from early 20s into the 70s. The needs are so great and their pain is deep and buried. Their environment is one where you can trust no one, and false gods, faiths, and beliefs run rampant and dark. There are so many things you want to say or preach, but it is really about listening and loving the men as they process what they hear in the talks. They begin to grow “new parts”, if you will, or they begin to see the parts of themselves that need removing. And where the change and light start forming right there in front of you…the Holy Spirit moves right in front of you. It is a precious, precious time and it is amazing when God allows you to bear witness to His work.
One of the acts of love we provide for the men is that of each volunteer, we write a letter to each of the 36 inmate participants. After five years, for most of the men, their families stop visiting them and stop any written correspondence. So to receive a bag of 36 written letters is a very special gift to an incarcerated man. On Walk #22, I was the leader of the weekend. The leader alone presents the bag of letters to each man while the rest of the volunteers are singing hymns softly in the next room. My! To see each man opening his letters with such care and reading the letters; it was too much to bear witness to. In some way, it was my own burning bush moment. I had to look away. It was as if God was pouring out His love at that moment and revealing His Son to them. All the words are from men who were misfit toys themselves but were made whole by a baby in manger many years ago. To say it’s a moving moment simply does not capture what is happening inside these men and how they are shaken by the entire weekend.
We also have a time of open microphone where the men can share their spiritual condition, how they see it was before and now after their time during the Kairos’ experience, and also what they are going to take with them going forward. I remember one man said once that if people on the outside knew what we’d found behind these walls, that they would be fighting to climb in to get what we got in here. What I believe is renewed or even found for the first time in the men’s hearts is that they feel loved again. They begin to feel hope that maybe God does have use for even someone like them.
One the intentions of the weekend is to try and get the men to realize they have built their own personal walls around themselves for different reasons, and that they need to take the step of joining a small group and have prayer-and-share times after the weekend is over. These are vital steps to begin their strong walk with God.
What is different about the Kairos’ ministry is that it is not a “one and done deal.” We have monthly reunions at the prison and visits of the men inside on the fourth Saturday of every month. We have about 150 – 200 men attend from each of the two dorms and the dorms alternate months. Kairos is Greek, it references God’s ‘Special Time.’ I invite you, one misfit toy to another, to come have some special time in a special place where God is making men feel whole again.
Friday, May 18, 2012 at 6:45AM |