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Why Minister to Prisoners? |
Because they ARE capable of changing. And we can help.
One in every 31 adult Americans is currently under correctional supervision — confined to prison or in the community on probation or parole.
2.3 million men and women now pack our prisons and jails — a 500-percent increase since Prison Fellowship began in 1976.
7 percent of the total prison population is made up of women; the United States incarcerates more women than any other country.
36 percent of the people in our prisons and jails are African American, compared with 12 percent of our national population.
95 percent of all state prisoners will be released back into the community, at a rate of more than 700,000 per year.
66 percent of released prisoners are arrested again within three years.
52 percent end up back in prison within that same time period.
$68 billion of taxpayers’ money is spent on corrections per year.
Crime costs $105 billion annually in medical expenses, lost earnings, and costs for victim services. Victims lose 6 million days of work per year.
Sources: Pew Center on the States; Bureau of Justice Statistics |
 For 10 years, “I was lost in a world of drugs,” confesses Jill, who eventuallywent to prison for forging checks to cover her habit. Whilethere, she was mentored by Prison Fellowship volunteers. When she got out, they still stuck by her, helping her get a job and housing. Today she is drug-free and has reconnected with family members she harmed through her addiction. “Prison Fellowship played a vital role in helping me to overcome my past,” she says, “and has given me the opportunity to live a life I could never have imagined.”
You can make a BIG difference in one prisoner’s life.
Because if prisoners don’t change their ways, we all suffer.
 The thought of criminals locked away in prison might make us feel safe. But the fact is, 95 percent of prisoners will be released. And with little or no preparation inside, even those with good intentions just won’t make it on the outside. Two-thirds will be arrested for something else within three years. More than half will end up in prison again. And as the cycle keeps repeating, crime keeps spreading, our communities still aren’t safe, and we all feel frustrated that spending $68 billion a year on corrections isn’t giving us better results!
What makes more sense: To keep spending billions on a prison system that gets way too much repeat business? Or to support a strategy that gives prisoners a real chance to stay out?
Because prison is where Jesus would be.
 While here on earth, Jesus spent most of His time with society’s “outcasts”—crooked tax collectors, prostitutes, and other “sinners.” It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick, Jesus said. And He offered them the healing of His forgiveness and friendship.
So if Jesus were on earth today, you can be sure we would find Him in prison—spending time with even the most loathed criminals and outcasts. Why? Because He came “to seek and to save the lost.” And now, as Jesus’ representatives on earth, we should be among the prisoners as well. Calling all to the healing touch of Jesus. Trusting that no one, no matter how far he has fallen, is beyond Christ’s love and power to transform.
Do you want to be where Jesus would be?
Prison Fellowship invites you to join in making a change in prisoners and in our communities.
Change a life. It’s easy to help.
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