The prison ministry consists of visiting the Juvenile Detention Home in Christiansburg one
evening per month to meet with the juvenile detainees and discuss the role of God in their
lives. The second component is participating in the Roanoke Chapter of Kairos, an
international prison ministry. Monthly visits are arranged at Keen Mountain State Prison in
Oakwood, VA, to conduct an interdenominational bible study with interested inmates.

Contact: Dick Neves             mussel2@verizon.net


 

Report for Visit to Keen Mountain State Prison, August 9-10, 2023 - Dick Neves 8/11/2023
Seven members of our Kairos team in Roanoke traveled to Keen Mt. State Prison in Oakwood, VA to participate in a 2-day retreat with 28 inmates who are Christians or have expressed interest in Christianity. A total of 8 ‘talks’ were given by Kairos members, covering 1 Cor 13:4-8, on the topic of ‘love’. I was assigned a table with 5 inmates: 3 African-Americans, 1 Mexican, and 1 Honduran. Several of them are serving life-sentences for capital offenses, and one faced the death penalty before his sentence was reduced to life without parole. Because these men reside in different ‘pods’ within the prison, such meetings as these are the only time that they can enjoy fellowship with fellow believers.  I always feel out of place with no tattoos on my arms, hands, neck, or face. The 8 presentations were as follows: God is love, love is patient, love is kind, love does not envy or boast, love is not proud or selfish, love is not easily angered, and the greatest of these is love.  The presentations included scriptural background from elsewhere in the bible, an explanation of their meaning, and a personal witness by the presenter on how the topic was experienced in his life and affected his faith in Jesus Christ. I was assigned topic #3 (love is kind), which is the first time I have been given a presentation. Hopefully the group now realizes that I am not a theological threat, as the only Catholic.
 In my presentation, I explained that the 27 books and letters of the New Testament were originally written in Greek, that the Greek language had separate words for 4 different types of love (agape, philia, storge, eros), what those differences were, and how our English bibles have translated all of those into the one word ‘love’. I asked inmates, when they read their bible and came across the word ‘love’, to think about which of the Greek words was likely used in the original text, and the meaning that the author intended to convey. I spoke about kindness, selfless vs selfish, and the difficulty in putting the needs of others before their own. I spoke about the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:23-24) and how those attributes would improve who they are and their relationship with fellow inmates. Finally, I provided a personal witness of how two acts of kindness by me in Haiti changed the lives of people and increased their faith in God and my own.
After each presentation, there was a 15-minute discussion at the table answering 3 questions, followed by each inmate saying a prayer that addressed the topic in their personal life, and asking for God’s help to change. I always make it known that I am Catholic. I led the discussion to keep participants on topic, encouraged everyone to participate verbally, and asked for their interpretation of bible verses related to the ‘love’ topic. One of the African-American inmates was muslim, so discussion about Jesus and bible verses vs Koran verses made for interesting conversation. The Mexican inmate asked if I could get him a crucifix to wear around his neck, so I will have to contact Chaplain Ritter to see if that is possible. He also asked whether I knew of a Catholic priest who could visit the prison, because no such visitor has come since his being there. There are other Mexicans and inmates from Central America (likely Catholic) within the roughly 1000 inmates who would benefit from such a visit. The last half-hour was an ‘open mic’, when inmates could speak to the group about the retreat, likes and dislikes, or to provide a personal testimony of love in their lives, either before or during their life in prison. It was obvious in comments and my conversations with these and other inmates that the COs (Correction Officers) do not show them prospect respect as fellow human beings. These men thanked Kairos members for coming each month, for the two 2-day retreats and 4-day course in the spring each year, and for our genuine interest in their spiritual welfare and treating them as equals in the Christian faith. Because most of these men committed their crimes when much younger, many now accept accountability for what they did. As one would expect, the thief on the cross (Luke 23:39-43) is a popular text for these men, so they are hopeful that their repentance and plea for mercy will be heard by Jesus, for the forgiveness of their past sins.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                           

Keen Mountain State Prison in 2023
I traveled to Keen Mt. State Prison, Oakwood, VA on April 17-20 with my Kairos group (international prison ministry) to introduce Christianity to 36 inmates who were selected by prison staff as viable candidates for such an endeavor. This prison has a chaplain and associate chaplain who are employed part-time to provide support for the inmates. There were 20 Kairos brothers in attendance, to include 3 clergy, representing 7 Protestant churches in Roanoke and me. For the previous 4 Saturdays, I traveled to Holy Spirit Church in Roanoke to attend training sessions in preparation for the 4-day event. I was assigned as host to 2 prison inmates: Prisoner A serving a life sentence and Prisoner B with an anticipated parole date in 2050. Roughly 80% of the inmate participants were black. Most of the attendees live within ‘pods’ in the prison, a set of cells with either 1 or 2 per cell. The Kairos group brought 400 dozen cookies, baked by their church members, and bags of coffee to be consumed during the 4 days. The seating arrangement was 3 Kairos brothers and 6 inmates around a 6 ft circular table to encourage participation by all. All inmates wore blue shirts and pants, so we were not allowed to wear blue clothing, and could only bring our driver’s license for identification into the prison, which was exchanged for a visitor’s badge. We were not allowed to bring our bibles into the prison, which prevented any theological discussions or questions that could arise between what the speaker said vs what a bible verse might be interpreted as saying. I was assigned as Table Leader, to encourage participation by all and to be sure that nothing provided by Kairos (booklets, rubber pens, handouts, paper pads) left the table at the end of each session. The short, rubber pen made it difficult to take notes.
 One Day 1, each Kairos member introduced himself, giving our name (large name tags around our necks), where we live, where we worship, and how long we have been involved with Kairos. The 25 inmates in attendance were asked to give their names, where they lived, how they spend spare time, whether employed  in prison (35-45 cents/hr) and why they were in attendance. The 4-day session consisted of brief (10-20 min) presentations on subjects such as making choices, Jesus as Lord, prayer, forgiveness, scripture study, and other essentials to understand the Christian faith. The presentations by topic were given by senior members of the Kairos group. Before each presentation, a music-minded Kairos member played guitar to accompany Christian songs projected onto a screen on the front wall, so that all attendees could sing along.  My only podium access was to read the Prayer of St. Francis to the group. Perhaps as a Catholic, the senior Kairos members were apprehensive about my teaching on one of the course themes. Several of the Kairos brothers gave testimonials of how God helped them to overcome adversity in their lives.  After each formal presentation, we had a 10-minute discussion at the tables and were then provided with a poster board and colored markers for the prisoners to present the pertinent points of the talk in a visual format (artwork and text).  This forced opinions and discussion of what to draw as highlights, provided some levity, and allowed inmates with some artistic talent to express themselves. A group of 5 inmates with C.H.A. (Christ’s Hands in Action) on their name tags, former graduates of this short course, were present and responsible for providing coffee, water, and cookies to their assigned tables, to prevent participants from leaving the table frequently and reducing their participation.
A few of the attendees were reputed muslims, but perhaps only in name, to receive protection from that faith group within the prison walls. No theology was discussed, given that the various denominations of Kairos members present had faith traditions different from each other. However, Sola Scriptura was the one commonality pitched to attendees, and that the ‘church’ consisted of all Christian believers. The daily sessions ran from 7:30 am to 5 pm, and we ate both lunch (11 am) and dinner (4 pm) with the inmates. I can now attest that prison food is not good, and attempting to eat with rubber forks and spoons also made it difficult.  As one inmate quipped, they are participants in an involuntary weight loss program administered by DOC (Department of Corrections). Thankfully after we left the prison, we traveled to the United Methodist Church in Richlands where the church ladies had a real dinner meal prepared for us, with real utensils. We stayed at the Super 8 Motel in Claypool Hill for the 3 nights, and all room costs were covered by profits made by the Kairos group at their annual, fund-raising golf tournament.
Because there likely were inmates at my table who are imprisoned for murder, I reminded them that any sin against God, except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, could be forgiven. I mentioned to them the early capital punishment crimes of Moses (Ex 2:11-12), David (2Sam 11:12-15), Paul (Acts 1:8), adulterous woman (Jn 8:1-11), and Dismas (Lk 23: 42-43).  All of these committed sins punishable by death, and yet God forgave them. Without my bible, I had to prepare topics and memorize scripture verses prior to the next day. I wanted these men to understand that forgiveness could be granted by God if they confessed their transgressions, repented of them, and asked for forgiveness. On Tuesday night (Day 2), each of us wrote brief letters of support to each of the attendees, which were placed in bags and given to them on Day 3. The Kairos group was moved to a separate room when the bags of letters were given to each of them to read.  Because many of these men have limited or no contact with family, and may or may not receive letters from anyone, I was told that some have a very emotional response, to learn that we consider them to be our brothers in Christ and now part of our Kairos family. One of the exercises on Day 3 was to ask each inmate to write on a piece of rice paper the names of anyone that they harbored resentment against. Then each would bring that slip of paper and put it into a bowl of water and watch the paper dissolve. Just like that paper, so their heart condition against those people also had to dissolve to provide complete forgiveness to the transgressor.
On the last day (Day 4), each of the inmates who had attended every session was given a cross with chain to wear and a graduation certificate, allowing them to attend our subsequent monthly visits to conduct bible studies administered by the former graduates of this Kairos program. At this graduation ceremony, inmates were given the opportunity to speak at the microphone on their opinion of the short course and how it affected them. About one-third of the men came to the podium to describe their experience, some of them emotional, and how they had a totally different opinion of what love God and love your neighbor meant to them. Most of these men did not know each other before gathering at the short course, but now they had bonded as new Christians and could continue to support one another by attending the Thursday chaplain service and out in the ‘yard’ among the other prisoners. They were encouraged to tell other inmates of their experiences and to encourage them to consider participation in the Kairos program.
There is so much more that could be said, but it was obvious to me that this Kairos program was an effective, bible-based evangelization program within the prison systems of the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. Virginia has roughly 30,000 prisoners in their DOC correctional facilities, and a contingent of Kairos visits many of them. Because all chaplains in Virginia prisons are of various Protestant denominations and are paid by GraceInside, their Thursday service is bible-based, with the appropriate interpretation of verses to fit the generic Protestant paradigm. Many of these prisoners committed their crimes while younger, and they now seem to recognize the error of their ways and seek the opportunity to receive and truly appreciate freedom on the outside. Most of them do not receive visitors, for various reasons, so monthly visits by our Roanoke-based Kairos group is a welcomed opportunity to leave their pods, socialize with like-minded inmates, and chat with us outsiders who are willing to spend our time to visit them.
Respectfully,
Dick Neves
Kairos-Roanoke