Kairos Prison Ministry - SCI Cambridge Springs

Specific Need

At Kairos International Prison Ministries, we are dedicated to transforming lives through the power of Christ love, with faith, prayer and community support.   As we continue to reach more individuals in prison and provide them with essential spiritual guidence and resources, we are currently in need of support to cover the costs of travel, materials, and supplies necessary for our programs.

Your generosity can make a profound difference-consider contributing not only monetary gifts but your time and talents volunteering to help us facilitate these outreach efforts.

Most importantly, we ask for your prayers for the incarcerated we serve, that they may find hope and redemption through our programs.  Pray for our volunteers, that they are strengthened and guided in their services.  Together, through your support and prayerful commitment, we can continue to bring light into the lives of those who need it the most.

Thank you for considering how you can partner with us to fullfill this important mission.

Mission

The Vision, Mission and Core Values of Kairos International Prison Ministry “…I was in prison and you came to visit me.” (Matthew 25:36),

Vision: A Community spiritually freed from the effects of imprisonment reaching all impacted by incarceration, through the love, hope, and faith found in Jesus Christ.

Mission: The mission of the Kairos Prison Ministry is to share the transforming love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ to impact the hearts and lives of incarcerated men, women and youth, as well as their families, to become loving and productive citizens of their communities.

Core Values: Kairos Prison Ministry’s Core Values guide our behavior and actions as a board, staff, and volunteers: Lay led,

Christ Centered Ministry we are Christians who believe in the Holy Trinity and honor and live the teachings of the Bible and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We conduct the ministry while inviting all to attend as Guests or Participants in Weekends and program- specific follow-on activities to build Christian Community.

Empowerment while Building Accountability:  While we empower the local volunteers to conduct the ministry, we are accountable to excellence and performance at the highest standards and authority of the ministry. We empower Guests or Participants to be accountable for their lives and be transformed by Jesus Christ.

Continuing Ministry Model to Build Community: We believe in the importance of enabling relationships to build community, thus our model includes the Weekend experience followed by Guests or Participants gathering regularly for accountability, support, and prayer. The full complement of the well-defined returning model is necessary for the community to prosper. Trustworthy

We believe that we must be honest and truthful in our personal conduct as we represent the ministry consistently and with integrity.

We are obedient to God in everything we do and obedient to the guidelines of the Kairos ministry programs. Respect and Love We believe in respecting each person with dignity while modeling Christ’s love. We practice ‘Listen, Listen, Love, Love.’

Stewardship: We believe that we must be good stewards of our ministry’s programs, funds and resources, as well as our personal time, talent, and treasures.

Profile

The following statements are excerpts from the Kairos Web site and the Kairos Manual.

Why We Serve Prisoners: “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:40)

Kairos Inside Prison Ministry Program: “He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains.” (Psalm 107:14)

The U.S. Leads the World in Incarceration Rates: Our mission field is more than 2 million people. The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration with 2.3 million people currently in the nation’s prisons or jails — a 500% increase over the past thirty years. In 2014 the U.S. represented 5% of the world’s population. But it housed 25% of the world’s incarcerated people. Number of Men Incarcerated in 2013: 1,463,454 Number of Women Incarcerated in 2012: 113,605 Number of Youth Incarcerated in 2013: 54,148 (in both correctional institutions and adult prisons)

Kairos Brings God’s Light into the Darkness of Prison: The prison environment is a dark place, where prisoners face violence, anger, gangs and loneliness daily. Kairos Prison Ministry volunteers step into this darkness to hold a 3 ½ day weekend, with the majority of participants made up primarily of negative leaders within the prison.

Through talks, discussions and Chapel meditations prisoners learn that they are worthy of God’s love, light and grace: No matter who they are or what they have done, God forgives them. When a former negative or gang leader accepts Christ, it can influence the very atmosphere of a prison for the better. As the Kairos Christian community inside a prison grows and begins to gain influence, the incidence of violence often decreases.

The next generation experiences a change in their released family member, who begins to model a lifestyle without crime. New, positive behavior is reinforced. The local communities become safer, as parolees and former prisoners make positive life choices from the foundation of ongoing Christian

Kairos Inside is a ministry whose mission is to develop a Christian community inside prisons. The Kairos Inside program brings positive and negative leaders together, in both male and female institutions, for a 3 ½ day Weekend led by same gender Kairos volunteers.

The Weekend is based on:  A series of talks by volunteer team members. • Discussions, • Chapel meditations, and • Creating a Christian community. For many participants, the Kairos Weekend creates the desire to become a Christian, and for others the desire to continue his/her spiritual growth.

Kairos Inside creates Christian communities inside prisons that can transform lives, decrease prison violence, and reduce recidivism.  (Psalm 107:14) "He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke their chains."—

Kairos Inside Graduate: After a Kairos Inside Weekend, Christian Community Begins The Kairos program concept is to build the Christian community inside the institution where the Kairos Community prays and fellowships together on a regular basis.

These are called “Prayer-and-Share” Groups that meet weekly.  At SCI Cambridge Springs, Volunteers return every Saturday morning for the Prayer and Share time and again on the 2nd Sunday of each month for a “Reunion” of the entire Kairos community.

The fact that we return again and again to each prison is what distinguishes Kairos from other prison ministries. Without our follow up support, the efforts of the 3 ½ day retreat would quickly be lost to the prison environment.

Prison Violence Often Decreases As the Kairos Christian community inside a prison grows and begins to gain influence, the incidence of violence decreases. Kairos Can Reduce Recidivism Rates up to 50% In a study of 505 inmates released from Florida prisons, the recidivism rate was reduced by half for Kairos Graduates, dropping as low as 10%. They re-entered the outside world with a God centered perspective and a new desire to become productive citizens.

The three and a half day Kairos weekend at SCI Cambridge Springs Women's prison is held in October of each year. The Kairos volunteers participate in team building meetings and training in advance to each weekend. A Kairos Team Leader is chosen by the local Advisory Council and approved by the State Chapter Committee and then they must attend an Advanced Training Event. These events are conducted at locations across the United States and internationally.

Volunteers that serve inside the prison are made up of persons of the same gender who take the Kairos experience to the participants.

Volunteers on the Support Team can be of mixed gender. This group works outside the prison to supply the support needed for the Kairos Weekend. Usually this involves cooking meals, writing letters, preparing banners and lots and lot's of prayer. Both groups make one Kairos Team.

If you would like more information about Kairos or would like to volunteer, you may contact us at the following address, Kairos PO Box 137 Fairview, Pa. 16415.