Prison: Holidays and Release are High Leverage Opportunities for Ministry
Persist in ministries to connect personally with as many inmates as possible on holidays and at release since they are high leverage opportunities for conversion
9/24/20231 min read
Two particularly high-level opportunities for conversion are on holidays and the moment of being released. If your faith community prison ministry can get permission to provide a treat such as a color copy of a Book of Hours painting-and a variety of them so they can be traded- or a treat with the holiday meal, it would be long remembered. It could probably be done through the commissary store if the staff refuses to receive non-detention facility food or refuses to use your money to purchase non-detention facility food.
Holidays would include Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Father's Day, Mother's Day, Independence Day, etc.
If you can, arrange a protocol for the detention facility staff to call your prison ministry program when someone is released with no family, pick them up and provide them with whatever meal they are craving, and as much of what they are craving as you are willing to provide. They may want three meals. Offer to take them to the shelter (which may need to be one of your faith community member’s homes or your church facility) and make arrangements to meet with them the following day, and ongoing, to get them reintegrated. Doing so would be a very powerful testimony.
In some cases, the defendant or inmate actually had no debt to society to repay, and in the cases where they did, make sure they know and feel their debt is paid and they have been redeemed.
Be honest with yourself about the fact that even though the debt has been paid it is currently extremely difficult to recover one's self respect, safety, and security once one has a legal record, regardless if the record has been expunged.
It would be most effective if they were not proselytized to in religious words at this time.