Prison Ministry
Recent Blogposts
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Crossroads: Letters From Lockdown
We receive dozens of notes and letters from students every week, giving us glimpses into their lives. Some of their stories make us smile and warm our hearts. Others offer a sobering reminder of the darkness of prison life and the brokenness of our world.
As the world has been reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Crossroads team moved their offices to their homes, which was quite a drastic change. But in prisons and jails, the changes were even more dramatic. Visits stopped. Programs stopped. Most prison facilities were placed on lockdown, and some people were locked in a lonely cell for twenty-three hours a day.
Still, students continued to send us letters. Some have shared how this time of isolation has worn on their souls. Some have expressed hope and gratitude. Amid all the uncertainty, many students have expressed deep faith and shown incredible endurance. We’ve shared these notes with our staff, and we want to share a few with you. You can read scans of these actual letters from students in our Letters from Lockdown publication. DOWNLOAD HERE
As you read these letters—some encouraging, some heartbreaking—we encourage you to lean into any tension you might feel. Praise God for the way He is moving in prisons all over the world, but don’t give up on praying fervently for the people represented by these words. Don’t stop praying for an end to mass incarceration in our nation.
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I Did Not Know Such Love Even Existed
You’re worthless. You’re stupid. You’ll always be a failure.
These were the words Terry heard over and over as he grew up. Longing for love from his father, he instead received emotional and physical abuse.
“I became angry and started hating my father, wondering why the person I call ‘daddy,’ the person who is supposed to love me and teach me right from wrong, was always hurting me and my mom,” Terry said.
Although he resolved never to become like his father, he found himself slipping into similar tendencies. “I would mistreat my friends and anyone else who was around me, including my teachers,” he recalled. “I would do whatever I wanted to do, and I wasn’t going to answer to anyone.”
Terry decided not to answer to the law, either. In his twenties, he began to let “the devil’s cheap thrills”—including cocaine and prostitutes—lead him down a destructive path. His mother visited him during his first stint in the county jail. He could barely meet her teary gaze as he promised her that he’d get clean.
After his release, however, he fell back into his old ways. “I got to a point in my life that I didn’t care about anything other than drugs and women,” Terry said. “I began using more and more—not only to escape my problems but to escape myself as I came to realize the self I had created. I was completely out of control.”
After surviving an intentional overdose, Terry had no choice but to face his girlfriend, who had discovered he’d been cheating on her. Fed up with a lifetime of poor decisions, he let his frustration and anger take control.
He soon found himself in a cold, dark prison cell, facing twenty years for assault. “In that small isolation cell, it dawned on me just how messed up my life had become,” he said. “There was a wrenching in my chest—an inner longing for God and a better way of life. I kneeled down on that cold floor and cried out, ‘God, I can’t do this on my own. I need You! Please take the pain, bitterness and loneliness away!’” Instantly, Terry received an answer to his desperate prayer. He felt the Holy Spirit flood his heart with peace and love.
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Special Message from the President of Crossroads
The coronavirus has interrupted the lives of many people and many organizations, including Crossroads Prison Ministries. President & CEO Lisa Blystra offers an update on the ministry and a word of encouragement for these turbulent times.
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Crossroads Prison Ministries Workshop Now Available!
We hosted a volunteer training workshop for all current Crossroads Prison Ministries mentors and for anyone who is considering becoming a mentor. The training featured Douglas Cupery, Director of Church Mobilization at Crossroads' headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The training session was recorded and the audio is now available to stream:
https://pkschurch.com/PrisonMinTraining-2019
The purpose of the workshop was to hear how God is using Parkside mentors to affect the lives of prisoners, to provide training for mentors, to connect more experienced mentors with newer mentors, and to develop a network of fellowship among Parkside Crossroads mentors.
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Event
Crossroads Prison Ministries Workshop 2019
Location: The Venue at Parkside Church
Start Time: Sat 11, May 2019, noon
End Time: Sat 11, May 2019, 3 p.m.
We will host a volunteer training workshop on Saturday, May 11 for all current Crossroads Prison Ministries mentors and for anyone who is considering becoming a mentor. The training will be held in the Venue from 9:00 am-noon with Douglas Cupery, Director of Church Mobilization at Crossroads' headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The purpose of the workshop is to hear how God is using Parkside mentors to affect the lives of prisoners, to provide training for mentors, to connect more experienced mentors with newer mentors, and to develop a network of fellowship among Parkside Crossroads mentors. A continental breakfast and lunch will be served.
If you are a Crossroads mentor or have any interest in becoming a mentor, please join us on May 11!
There is no cost for the workshop but, please register so that we can have enough materials and food prepared.
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Ministering to Those in Prison
Remembering the Prisoner
For more than 16 years, Parkside Church has partnered with Crossroads Prison Ministries to provide biblical instruction to people in prison. Our volunteers currently serve 155 prisoners, both men and women, out of the 50,000 individuals that Crossroads reaches each year. While these numbers represent significant and meaningful help, more volunteers are needed to reach the more than 2.4 million people who are incarcerated in the United States alone.
Serving in a Different Way
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Event
Crossroads Prison Ministries Luncheon
Location: The Venue at Parkside Church
Start Time: Sun 25, March 2018, 3:30 p.m.
End Time: Sun 25, March 2018, 4:30 p.m.
We will hold a free luncheon on March 25 at 12:30 pm for anyone currently involved with Crossroads Prison Ministries or for those who would like to find out more about it. Douglas Cupery, Director of Church Mobilization at Crossroads Prison Ministries will be here from Grand Rapids, MI for the luncheon, which will be held in the Venue.
This event is also open to those outside of Parkside Church who are interested in attending.
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Event
Prison Ministry Luncheon
Location: The Venue at Parkside Church
Start Time: Sun 4, Feb. 2018, 3:30 p.m.
End Time: Sun 4, Feb. 2018, 5 p.m.
We will hold a free luncheon on Sunday, February 4 for anyone with a heart to reach those in prison with the Gospel. It is for those who are involved with any type of prison ministry, as well as for those who want to learn more about the kinds of prison ministry happening in NE Ohio. The luncheon will be at 12:30 pm in the Venue.
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Prison is a Lonely Place
Only 12% of prisoners in Michigan get regular visitors. The story is similar across the country.
When you consider this statistic, you begin to realize how life-giving a simple letter from the outside can be for a prisoner. Letters written by Crossroads mentors are read over and over by their students. The encouraging and guiding words have a deep impact, providing a vivid picture of the unconditional love of Jesus. The words of hope, prayers and scriptures scribbled on paper are written on prisoners' hearts.
This correspondence would not happen without the support of our dedicated mentors and office volunteers!
One student said:
"The letter and booklets couldn't have arrived at a more necessary time, as my faith has been tested and attacked as of late. I have been assailed by doubts, fears and feelings of loneliness and anger so strongly in past weeks that I was starting to lose faith. My faith is now being re-strengthened and my hope rekindled."
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'No One is Going to Gift Wrap Their Pain for You'
"When we get in there [prison], no one is going to gift wrap their pain for you. When we are talking to people who might not know the Lord, we have to realize there are a lot of sins and decisions they made to get there, but there's all kinds of hurts that they didn't choose that drove them that way."