Can this prison ministry expand?

This is our week off from the prison for May. Someone else from Yokefellow goes in tonight. We try to offer a prayer for her at the time of the session.

So, I'll write on something else I've been thinking about.

Can Yokefellow Prison ministry expand? YPM was started back in 1955 when the Dr. Elton Trueblood presented his thoughts on small groups to Federal Prison Chaplains at a seminar.

The largest groups of Yokefellows were actually not in prison at all. But the groups that remain are the Yokefellow Prison ministry groups.

Dr. Trueblood died in 1994. For years I assumed that Yokefellow Prison Ministry would slowly be less active and fade away.

But there seems to be a growth happening here in Pennsylvania. Why? Not sure, although we are blessed to have a strong board and leaders, so I'm sure that is helping.

I do know this. I've heard it time and time again. The inmates really like the Yokefellow sessions. They say that Yokefellows listen to them. There is not a set lesson or content that must be covered at a session. In fact, we often put our prepared lesson aside if the group wants to discuss some other topic that we can tie in to faith. And most topics can be tied into faith and God and Jesus.

The inmates appreciate that they aren't being simply preached to. They are engaged in the group discussion. They are a part of sessions. Their input helps decide the outcome. They are important and valued by the volunteers.

When I started in 1994, I thought I knew everything. Sigh.

Together, free and incarcerated, we reach out to God for his grace and wisdom to grasp what he wants us to see and understand. Together. It happens together.

There is an active Yokefellow Prison Ministry group in North Carolina.

Can Yokefellow spread again? I think so. I hope so. I believe there are probably other Christians out there that could mature and grow through this service ministry.

Our foundations

May 19, 2005 - We had another good sized group, about 14 inmates, some new ones, mostly regular attendees.

I asked if an inmate would pray and ask God to join the group. One offered and a prayer was said.

Over the weekend I attended some seminars featuring Dr. David Anderson from the Youth and Family Institute (YFI) in Minnesota. The institute studies faith and families and creates materials to help pass the faith to family members and reach out to the community.

One of the methods they use is "Peer Ministry", where teenagers are given 12 to 13 hours of training on how to council other teenagers. This is important because teens often turn to other teens for advice about problems. so, equipping teens to give good advice makes a lot of sense. The Peer Ministry web site is at www.peerministry.org

When an inmate offers prayer, or gives advice to another inmate, that's worth much more than if I did. I'm a white, middle age, middle class women who's never smoked a joint in my life. My advice is limited. All I can hope to do is point them the way to God.

But when they council each other, it's a kind of peer ministry. And it isn't just for an hour or so a week. It's all week long. So in some ways, Yokefellow sessions help train the inmates how to minister (encourage, pray with and for, give guidance to) each other.

We went around the circle and gave our first names and said how we were doing. Then it was time to sing. For the first time ever, I brought my guitar to play. It went well. We sang Amazing Grace, Jacob's Ladder and Michael Row the Boat Ashore. I brought the guitar into the prison with out the case, so the guard could easily see there wasn't anything stuffed inside of it.

For the Psalm we read Psalm 23 several times. I encouraged the men to try to memorize the Psalm for our next session. We talked about what we think the Psalm means to us today.

Our lesson was about foundations. I shared with the group that my husband and I are in the process of hiring a carpenter to do some repairs to the house. My husband and I have talked several times in the past week, sharing ideas and concerns, making a mental list of things to get price quotes from the carpenter.

We talked about a step on the back wooden steps that needs fixed, some flooring on an outside porch that is warping and dryer vent that should be replaced.

It dawned on me today that we didn't talk about the crack in the foundation of our house. What good is repairing the outside if the inside structure is ill?

We referenced Matthew 23:27 and talked briefly about how important it is to care for the parts of us that are not seen more than the visible surface.

Preparing a place

5-12-2005 "I go to prepare a place for you"

About 14 male inmates came down from the blocks for the program tonight. While it is tempting to be discouraged when a small number of people come to the session, a group can get too large to operate well as a small group. Counting the 3 volunteers, we had 17 people in the group last night. The leader should take care with a larger group, allowing each person room to talk. If a group gets too large, consider breaking it into half if possible, with each group on one side of the room, and a different volunteer leading separate discussion groups after the beginning prayer, introductions and singing.

I asked for an inmate to offer the opening prayer, one offered up a very nice prayer. In my opinion, an inmate’s prayer is much better to have start the session, than a volunteer. Remember, we are there to serve the inmates.

Then, we went around the circle, each person giving their first name and saying how they were doing. Some men were talkative, some not. This is normal.

We read Psalm 88, each person taking a verse and reading from their own bible.


We talked about how much comfort the Psalms can give us, reminding us that people have needed and called out to God in times of loneliness and trouble for thousands of years.

I then told a story. I often use stories to illustrate a bible verse or principle. It’s amazing how talkative people can be, often giving “helpful” advice, if they think we are talking about a story in our lives from today.

I told a story about a person preparing a room for a guest. Cleaning the room, buying bedding, sheets and the like. Setting everything up just so. Then the person not coming to visit. Just forgetting the whole thing. Not acknowledging the effort put in to getting the room ready for them to visit. Then I asked the guys if it reminded anyone of a bible verse. Nope. So we read John 14 - about Jesus preparing a place for us.

Do we believe this? Do we act like it is true?

We talked about how parents can make a child feel welcome or not feel welcome. We then went around the circle, sharing brief descriptions of our childhood.

Many variations were heard. It reminded me that we come from many different backgrounds. It's important not to judge people on things they had no control over (like what parents then got, and what type of family they were born into).

God welcomes us into a room in his house, based on the redeeming work of Jesus. Let us rejoice in this invitation and remember it daily.

God is in Control

One of our volunteers recently attended a conference where the topic was "God is in control" so we had that as our topic for the session. To start the session I asked the inmates if one of them would like to offer prayer, asking God to join us. An inmate who recently plead guilty to his charges offered the prayer, humbling many of us with his praise to God.

We went around the circle, each giving our first name and saying a few words. One man didn't have much to say, until the man to his left nudged him and said something like, "Go ahead - tell them". He then shared that he had been transported to a large medical center and back today, getting a second opinion on a unnatural growth in his shoulder. The group welcomed his story and shared his health concerns. Although he is uncertain when the surgery will be, we all agreed to lift him up in prayer for health and strength.

We sang "Amazing Grace" and "I love to tell the story". We read Psalm 66 together. Then we started discussing the topic. I asked who people thought was in control when you go through a drive through at a fast food place. About half of the guys thought the employee was, the other half agreed with me that the customer was. It's so interesting to see how people can see things so differently. I asked how many people pray to God like they order their dinner at a drive thru. We talked about prayer and order giving and control for quite a while.

At the end of the session, we ended with the traditional Yokefellow prayer circle (cross hands, reach out to the persons beside you and hold hands all around) and prayed for the man going in for surgery soon and for the others.

As we headed toward the exit, a voice from "Control" came over the speaker, saying their was an emergency in the prison and we could not leave yet. In 10 plus years of prison ministry, this was the first time I had experienced this. I quickly but calmly sat on the edge of the small stage and began singing "Amazing Grace". The men joined in, without songbooks, singing from memory, low, adding harmony, reaching to God in this unusual moment. We sang five verses, including "Praise God" twice.

The guard had not signaled us yet that the situation was over, so I asked the men to get comfortable and said we would use the time as guided silent prayer time. I started the prayer session by asking the men to thank God for everything he had given them this day. After several minutes of quiet, I went on, leading the prayer into different areas. At one point we heard a distant voice, somewhere in the prison yelling. The prayer went on, as there was nothing else constructive to do for any of those involved in the trouble. I knew the best thing we could do was to keep the men in our room quiet and occupied.

As we prayed, the loud beep of the PA system jarred the room from silence and the voice of a guard came strongly into the room, "You can go now". We quickly gathered and vacated the room, the prisoners back to their cells, the ministry volunteers back through the heavy double lock doors into the chilly May evening. As we left, we heard the awaiting family members who were there for a visit being told that "There will be no visitations tonight - they are canceled".