On a recent trip to America’s heartland I met Dorothy, a
91-year-old widow who raised her daughter on a schoolteacher’s salary after her
husband’s death left her unexpectedly alone. In spite of her own suffering,
Dorothy became an Angel Tree® church coordinator in the early days after hearing
Mary Kay Beard speak at her church.
Through the years, not only did Dorothy faithfully give
to Prison Fellowship from her small salary (she is still very faithful and met
me at the door with a donation in an envelope so she could be part of making sure
"the children have Bibles"), she also put in long hours to empower
the people in her church to serve the families of the incarcerated. She raised
funds so that gifts could be purchased, and she called homes to make sure the
children would be present to receive them.
During our meeting Dorothy urged me to make sure Prison
Fellowship stays on course, evangelizing and discipling men and women behind
bars and challenging and training mentors outside. She "only wished she
could do more to help."
Friends, volunteers like Dorothy embody one of the
profound truths to be learned in prison ministry: We can let the pain in our
lives turn us inward, selfishly focused on our own survival to the neglect of
those near us (this is what happens to prisoners who become
“institutionalized”). Or we can be like Dorothy, who used her widowhood to
reach out to other moms raising their kids alone. Like Dorothy, we can let God
turn us inside out, using our pain to minister to others with a heart of
compassion.
No comments:
Post a Comment