It is estimated that there may be as many as two million children in the United States who have a parent in prisons. The influence and effect of incarceration of parents on their children cannot be minimized. The trauma of separation, the stigma of shame, and the economic implications on the remaining family members can be confusing and devastating to the child.
The Family is an institution designed by God. Today our family structure is being weakened by immorality, divorce, violence, and materialism. We live in troubled times. God is in the family repair business. He wants to strengthen family ties and bind families together.
As the church and as individual Christians we need to respond to the need and become more focused on ensuring that these children have a safe, permanent home, one that maintains and promotes their well-being. Churches and prison ministry organizations are targeting families of inmates and ex-inmates with programs to offset the immediate and long-term effect of incarceration on family members.
There are practical steps we can take to bridge the gap between the inmate and their families. We can visit inmates in prison as they experience loneliness, guilt, and the hopelessness of their situation. We can respond to the needs of the offender or family by providing aid in particular matters and individual concerns.
We can provide resources and information to these families as well as establishing and maintaining relationships with the parents and their children. It is critical to establish and communicate an environment of trust in these relationships as well as to break the cycle of crime by changing the hearts and minds of the incarcerated and the family members, including the children. The message of Christ is more than another community program.
Even hardened criminals can be touched and changed by the power of the gospel. Returning the ex-offender to the home instead of prison is of extreme importance for these young people. Recidivism studies reveal that on-going participation in faith based community program s is a critical element in reducing “re-offense.” Discipleship training implemented by mentors is an effective means of restoring inmates into productive and responsible parental roles.
Working as a volunteer in prison ministry will put you in a non supportive secular environment. Open doors of ministry in the prison are changing. As leaders of people we must ask, “What can I do to insure that the doors remain open for our lay workers to minister the Gospel?” Restorative justice, victims rights, restitution, alternatives to incarceration, and prison reform are all issues that need to be addressed with intellectual honesty and spiritual concern.
Christian volunteers visiting in the prison and in homes bring a message of hope to the inmates and their families. We have the opportunity of evangelism and discipleship. We must not be distracted from ministering the good news of healing to the broken hearted, deliverance to the bound, release to the oppressed and light to the blind.
For information on service opportunities in your local jail or prison contact the chaplain or inmate services director for ministry opportunities. Then, get involved. A parent, a child, or both may be counting on your response to that call.
Richard R. Blake, Christian Education Consultant, Book Store Owner
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