[ROVERNET - UK] OT Prison

[Kent Kinard]

On Tue, 09 Oct 2007 08:31:31 -0400
  S Manwell <s_manwell at alum.swarthmore.edu> wrote:
> Well, Bill Robertson beat us to the master cylinder 
>punch, but I hate to let the prison comment go by.  Hmm, 
>let's see:  a Texan figure of speech?  A sacrifice for a 
>good cause?
>
No, literally.  Twice a year I do a prison ministry called 
Kairos.  We go in on Thursday afternoon and finish Sunday 
afternoon.  There is some teaching, group discussion, 
singing and dancing, and sharing faith stories.  Some of 
these men simply have never had the experience of being 
loved unconditionally.  The team takes turns going back on 
Thursday of each week for Prayer and Share.  It is a 
pretty substantial commitment.  The team is ecumenical, 
but a little heavy on the Right Wing.  I try to keep them 
more in the middle theologically.  I was the head 
spiritual director for this one.

Roverecidivisticly,
(recidivism-technical term for the tendency to return to 
prison instead of staying out.  Most prison systems have a 
high recidivism rate. Some people find the high degree of 
choice involved in living in the free world to be 
threatening and uncomfortable and find the regimentation 
of prison life more comfortable.  They can't wait to get 
out, but making a successful transition is hard and 
violating parole is easy.  The term is usually applied to 
those who are incarcerated, but in this case, it is 
jokingly applied to those of us who are hooked on prison 
ministry.)
Kent K.