Singing Praise to God in jail at midnight
Another yokefellow volunteer leader usually goes into the prison and leads the session this week of the month, but she asked that we fill in for her this week. No problem. It does point out that it is really important to have enough volunteers to have someone at the session every week faithfully. The inmates look so forward to the sessions, it's important to be faithful. And that generally means having enough people to be able to fill in for the unexpected when it happens.
I think its great if basically the same Yokefellow volunteers can go in to a session every week, but have back ups for when they need a break or have scheduling trouble or someone gets sick, etc. That way the lessons and people have a continuity that is hard to get otherwise.
So much of the mentoring materials I've been reading lately talk about the importance of building relationships. Some schools are even having teachers spend 2 or more years with the same class as they matriculate onward through the grades because of the power of positive relationships. The Big Brothers / Big Sisters organization builds largely on the fact that one caring person can make a real difference in another person's life, simply by being there to listen and to care. The Youth and Family Institute teaches that the three As of being a mentor are to be Available, Authentic and Affirming.
Obviously, if different Yokefellow volunteers go into the prison each week, relationships are difficult if not impossible to build.
In our small group sessions, we start with a prayer, asking God to join and guide the group. Usually an inmate will offer this prayer. Then, we take the time to go around the room and have everyone, inmate and volunteer, give their first name to the group and share how they are doing. Names are so important to use when addressing other people. Having the inmates say their names every week helps us to know them as people. I also often take in a sign up sheet, where the group participants can sign their full name and write a prayer request. This sheet then comes out of the jail with me and I can use it again, through the week to remember the names of the guys that came to the session and to lift them up in prayer. This sheet can be copied and shared with the other YPM volunteers for the same reasons, and given to the Area Council leadership for record keeping (group activity tracking). So, learning names is a very do-able task that can have good rewards.
Our topics were Prayer and Praise. We'd been discussing prayer for several weeks, with me encouraging the men to spend an hour of prayer time with God each day. Sort of a "God visit". I've been getting the idea that many of the guys do not really know how to pray for this length. I've been remiss not to consider this and bring in more ideas. This week we read Psalm 111 and 112, which are praise centered Psalms. We talked about why we should offer praise to God (because he deserves it, for what he is, what he does and what he gives and does for us).
WMatthew Mathew 15, where we are to consider if we are harboring ill feelings towards anyone before approaching God. That was a good discussion area. Several men are having serious trouble forgiving people that are testifying against them.
We closed with Act 16, where Paul was in prison, singing praises at midnight.
I think its great if basically the same Yokefellow volunteers can go in to a session every week, but have back ups for when they need a break or have scheduling trouble or someone gets sick, etc. That way the lessons and people have a continuity that is hard to get otherwise.
So much of the mentoring materials I've been reading lately talk about the importance of building relationships. Some schools are even having teachers spend 2 or more years with the same class as they matriculate onward through the grades because of the power of positive relationships. The Big Brothers / Big Sisters organization builds largely on the fact that one caring person can make a real difference in another person's life, simply by being there to listen and to care. The Youth and Family Institute teaches that the three As of being a mentor are to be Available, Authentic and Affirming.
Obviously, if different Yokefellow volunteers go into the prison each week, relationships are difficult if not impossible to build.
In our small group sessions, we start with a prayer, asking God to join and guide the group. Usually an inmate will offer this prayer. Then, we take the time to go around the room and have everyone, inmate and volunteer, give their first name to the group and share how they are doing. Names are so important to use when addressing other people. Having the inmates say their names every week helps us to know them as people. I also often take in a sign up sheet, where the group participants can sign their full name and write a prayer request. This sheet then comes out of the jail with me and I can use it again, through the week to remember the names of the guys that came to the session and to lift them up in prayer. This sheet can be copied and shared with the other YPM volunteers for the same reasons, and given to the Area Council leadership for record keeping (group activity tracking). So, learning names is a very do-able task that can have good rewards.
Our topics were Prayer and Praise. We'd been discussing prayer for several weeks, with me encouraging the men to spend an hour of prayer time with God each day. Sort of a "God visit". I've been getting the idea that many of the guys do not really know how to pray for this length. I've been remiss not to consider this and bring in more ideas. This week we read Psalm 111 and 112, which are praise centered Psalms. We talked about why we should offer praise to God (because he deserves it, for what he is, what he does and what he gives and does for us).
WMatthew Mathew 15, where we are to consider if we are harboring ill feelings towards anyone before approaching God. That was a good discussion area. Several men are having serious trouble forgiving people that are testifying against them.
We closed with Act 16, where Paul was in prison, singing praises at midnight.
posted by Kathy Kolb | 8:43 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home