Nov 03, 2022 - Nov 17, 2022
All Day
Here is Tom Dishong’s summary on the Kairos weekend:
This was the most unusual Kairos I have ever been a part of—also, one of the best. According to Kairos guidelines, we should never ask why inmates are in prison. However, this weekend the prison administration agreed to send us the “gang leaders,” the “troublemakers,” the “worst of the worst.” This is what Kairos asks for. We want this type of inmate on board with Kairos. They are the ones in leadership inside prison who can have a direct effect on changing the very culture on the inside. At my table of 6 inmates, at least 3 were this type of inmate. There were 2 motorcycle gang members, one whose father is the president of a splinter group of the Outlaws, and his associate who was in for being arrested with 30 pounds of meth. The third was a part of a black gang such as the Crips or Bloods (I’m not sure exactly what gang). These racially motivated gangs are polar opposites! But the Lord, having a sense of humor, had them sitting right beside each other. The air was intense the first day, each trying to be more cool than the other, hardly speaking at all, especially to each other. Slowly but surely the love of God took over. By the end of the weekend, they began to trust each other. That is a miracle in itself. They actually became friends and hopefully Kairos brothers. All 6 at my table committed to getting and staying involved in the Kairos program. This gives them an 80% chance of never returning to prison.
The entire Kairos team would like to thank everyone for their support. We had the perfect amount of cookies. We had enough prayer chain to go around the chapel 2 ½ times (this is the driving force behind Kairos). We had enough posters from all over the world to cover the walls of the chapel. We had placemats, meal tickets, and homemade food enough to let the participants see and know the family of God was praying for them and had not forgotten or forsaken them. Thank you all for your support.
We still have much need of new volunteers to actually go into prison with us, as well as volunteers for kitchen help.
By the way, the son of the president of that biker gang asked Jesus to forgive his sins and made a commitment to our Lord!