SPEAK UP for those who cannot be heard. I need your past experience to help others in prison.
Calling ALL! Here is a chance to use your voice to help those who are without one. If you have been jailed or imprisoned, or you have a friend or family member who has been, I need your feedback. Where do you feel there is a GAP in our society and prison system, when it comes to helping freed ex-offenders walk out the door? How can we assist in helping everyone have a successful future? Please be specific, honest and open. Below is a description of the burden God has put on my heart to create a global non-profit that speaks to your concerns. It doesn't matter if it is Africa or America, the cry of the inmates are the same.
I have walked in prison ministry with inmates and ex-cons in the USA for a decade and now in Africa for the past three. I have gotten feedback from police inspectors, chiefs of villages, Bishops, pastors and church leaders. Unfortunately, some watch the freed ex-cons with a suspecting eye expecting them to fail. Many inmates do ok when first released but return to crime because of the judging and rejection. There is a huge GAP that is causing inmates to fail upon being released. There is isolation and judgment that is causing individuals to reoffending or worse - commit suicide after release.
WHO is waiting for them to help them get back on their feet. Where are the believers of Christ? Where are the churches in all this rehabilitation? Who is waiting for them at the door when they get out? The Bible tells us DO NOT FORGET THE PRISONERS. God has put a burden on my heart to start a non-profit organization to bring awareness to this gap around the globe. This ministry will help bring
prisoners and mentors of excellence together.
- Basic Needs: This organization will first meet their basic needs. It will include raising funds to bring needed supplies such as soap, toilet paper, shoes and Bibles into the poverty stricken prisons.
- Power-filled Lives: I have witnessed the Almighty power of God move through the prisons. We next need to be sharing the Gospel in a simple, truthful, exciting way in order to bring Spiritual healing and life-changing POWER into their lives.
- Expand Awareness: I'd like to bring local area pastors into the prisons themselves to see firsthand the power of God inside of prison. For Bishops, Pastors and church leaders to see their faces and shake hands with the inmates. To care for, and interact with the prisoners. To dispel their fears and see the incarcerated are no different than you or me. GOD LOVES THEM JUST THE WAY THEY ARE!
- In-Prison Leaders Training: I'd like to create and promote an in-prison leaders training and on-going Bible study for those that are incarcerated for life. So they can be there 24/7 for all who need them. Those in-prison leaders can reach deep with God's love into the darkest corners of the prison itself.
- Letter Writing Ministry: A Letters of Encouragement division to train those outside who want to help inmates inside. This is done through letter writing and scripture responses to the inmate's prayer requests.
- Re-Entry Training: To partner in a re-entry program that provides much needed mentoring/friendship of inmates for their last few months and after incarceration.
- Mentoring: Last but not least - inmates around the world are crying out for a non-judgmental friend to walk alongside them to help them get back on their feet and feel welcomed back into society after doing their time.
NETWORKING WEBSITE: Why reinvent the wheel? Networking is essential! I want to assemble a world-wide web-site that all people who are serving in prison ministry can tap into for ministry support. There will be ideas from other parts of the world and links to prison organizations with contact information that may be close to them. A networking website for all to contribute their successes, failures and much needed support. What works and what doesn't?
I had a chance on my last day to meet with a few leaders in Nairobi that I had met before this trip. One was following my limited blog for training and is doing a powerful women's prison ministry, the other is working with juveniles and their families in prison ministry. They both felt they are on their own, desperate for any training and ministry ideas in Africa. In the USA we are blessed in abundance. Let's pass it on!
Please put your thinking caps on… I could also use your name ideas for this non-profit. Something edgy, yet something that crosses cultural boundaries. (For example: Rock'n The Rebels doesn't work because Rock'n isn't understood in Africa.) Let's throw a few names on the wall and see what sticks.
What speaks to you?
"Now is your chance to make a difference in the lives of those without a voice."
Lets allow God to mold and create this ministry together… Time is short, let's not waste it.
Shug
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ReplyDeleteBrilliant answer to prayers from many, on this issue, especially here in Africa! We thank God for blessing us with you Shug Bury on this vision and the incredible family / partnerships that will be borne out of this!
ReplyDeleteConvicted of a crime in 2011, one which I did not commit. Allowed to post bail pending appeal which unfortunately I couldn't afford what happened next is that I had to serve a one year jail sentence with my then three months old baby. I know first hand, what it feels. To say it feels like being in a deep pit where no one can hear you cry out for help is an understatement. My life took a different turn.
Thanks be to the Almighty God, on 25th of February, 2013, the court of appeal vindicated me, quashed the sentence and wrongful conviction and cleared my name. How ever, it will never be the same again.
From what I experienced and saw, it's clear that imprisonment disproportionately affects individuals and families living in poverty. It is one of the major reasons and whose effects lead to most of the individuals being behind bars. When they are released, often with no prospects for employment, the former prisoners are generally subject to socio-economic exclusion and are thus vulnerable to an endless cycle of POVERTY, marginalization, criminality and imprisonment. It's a vicious cycle! This, imprisonment contributes directly to the impoverishment of the prisoner, of his family (with a significant cross-generational effect) and of society by creating future victims and reducing future potential economic performance. The other major common causes that lead to imprisonment are illiteracy and marital / family issues which again adversely affect the poor.
Of course we call for personal responsibility and for the formerly incarcerated to publicly own up to their crimes - but as a society we must work together to give hope & meaning to those affected.
For so many inmates, the day of release, is their saddest!( This is the day they should be the happiest!) But they do not know where they are going to go or stay, what they are going to do etc and their is absolutely no one to receive them and re-integrate them back into the society.
I want to commend the stakeholders genuinely involved in this work but A LOT MORE needs to be done! Churches, Pastors, Priests, Government leaders, Professionals, Volunteers, Employers & Family members.
To design action plans based on their needs. Faith inspires us to apply dynamic action to an equally dynamic need. Let's work our faith to help them get a decent second chance. Some were even innocent and upon release we do not want anything to do with them? Provide an ongoing relationship of learning, challenging them to think differently and approach the challenges of life with an open mind. When they stumble be there to help them get back on their feet.
Many are broken & disheartened on the road to rebuilding their lives. Many are crying! We must join hands to transform lives.
Let's be part of the solution. Treat your sister / brother like you would want to be treated. The fact that this person is still breathing....
We are called to be His witnesses....to the end of the earth. Acts 1:18. Let us be those witnesses now!
Policymakers must face perennial problems like poverty, illiteracy and other dilemmas.
Let's not harm the very people we are supposed to protect.
I pray that this global non - profit, that our dear sister Shug has in mind, will expand to many nations and countries where many will be blessed and lives / generations forever changed.
Thank you for your private messaging on this link and on Facebook. I will use all the suggestions that you have given. Please keep them coming.
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