Musing on Jail Ministry

[James Nored]

Here are some thoughts from Bill Bowman on his work with the jail ministry.

"I have been involved with 3 other men and 3 women in the Collin County, Texas County Prison for about 7 yrs. There are about 900 Inmates here. I will give a few opinions of this work.

The first person to come into Paradise after Jesus resurrection was a criminal! Most Christians ignore the work to be done because of the nature of an Inmate.
Yet Christ spent much time with people who were unwanted, poor, diseased. You wonder what Jesus would say to us if He stepped into our Fellowship and noted what we were really about!

I find the work very fulfilling. It only has happened to me once, but what a thrill I received. I chose to go to Jason's Deli in McKinney, Tx. with my family one noon. As I got in line, the Order Taker happened to be an ex-inmate! What a pleasant surprise when he recognized me and I him! It made me feel a new desire to keep on keeping on. It is not often I see the results of the work.

Hilery Motsinger and Buck Griffiths are leaders in the New Life Behavior Courses. They and others have come up with some very practical work that can be presented to the Inmates with high confidence by the teachers.

Here at Collin we usually have about 15-20 volunteer prisoners attend classes that last about 11/2 hours once a week. We sing, have a one-sentence chain prayer for all who want to pray, 5 minutes of jokes, a serious interplay between the attendees and teacher on a Bible Topic that can cover enough subjects for one year without repeating. Usually the Inmate is in for no longer then 3 months.

There is a great need for more Half-Way Houses. Many Inmates have nothing when they leave the Prison. It is hard for them to get a place to stay or a job. Many times their wives have divorced them. Their kids have been taught to hate their jailed parent. Things can be so bad, they had rather return to prison. Many do. In the Dallas area I believe there are 2 houses for ex-cons.

Many success stories have come from the church's work in this area. The Lord 's last words in His teaching mentioned how he would ask: Did you help that guy in prison?

This is not for everyone. Judgmental, critical, nontolerant people would do little to help these guys. They clearly need to be given the Good News and be shown what a great life it can be compared with what they have experienced. When they sense that you really care for them, much good can be done."

Bill Bowman