INMATES’ LIVES TOUCHED BEHIND BARS
Several Pathfinder clubs gathered for an afternoon packing event at the Florida Conference office. (Photographer: Hubert Swearine)
Christmas cards with messages for inmates were personalized during a special Meet • Worship • Serve Sabbath at Florida Hospital Church. (Photographer: Wilfredo Padillo)
by Hubert Swearine and Alethea Gordon
For the second year, men and women at Orange County Correctional Facility in Orlando, Fla., received gifts from Pathfinders and church members of Florida Conference in the Christmas Behind Bars initiative. This warm expression of Christian love and kindness included 3,000 care packages and 1,000 Bibles.
Lurlet Gordon, Pathfinder Director of Solid Rock Church in Orlando, and Daniel Melendez, Pathfinder Director of Orlando Central Church, accepted a challenge to make Christmas Behind Bars an annual event. At the core of the project are the words spoken by Jesus in Matthew 25:36 (KJV), “…I was in prison, and ye came unto me.”
The success of the project could not have been possible without the help and generous donations from Pathfinder clubs and church members around Central Florida. Each person contributed by donating and preparing care packages for men and women whom they had never met and who might not experience the joy of Christmas.
Florida Hospital Church took on the challenge of providing and packaging the majority of the care packages as part of their Meet • Worship • Serve event. A collaboration between Orlando Central and Forest Lake Churches provided a large number of Bibles. Pathfinder clubs and members from different churches assisted in packaging the gift items: cookies, pens, envelopes, stamps, and a personalized Christmas card for each inmate.
For the second year, men and women at Orange County Correctional Facility in Orlando, Fla., received gifts from Pathfinders and church members of Florida Conference in the Christmas Behind Bars initiative. This warm expression of Christian love and kindness included 3,000 care packages and 1,000 Bibles.
Lurlet Gordon, Pathfinder Director of Solid Rock Church in Orlando, and Daniel Melendez, Pathfinder Director of Orlando Central Church, accepted a challenge to make Christmas Behind Bars an annual event. At the core of the project are the words spoken by Jesus in Matthew 25:36 (KJV), “…I was in prison, and ye came unto me.”
The success of the project could not have been possible without the help and generous donations from Pathfinder clubs and church members around Central Florida. Each person contributed by donating and preparing care packages for men and women whom they had never met and who might not experience the joy of Christmas.
Florida Hospital Church took on the challenge of providing and packaging the majority of the care packages as part of their Meet • Worship • Serve event. A collaboration between Orlando Central and Forest Lake Churches provided a large number of Bibles. Pathfinder clubs and members from different churches assisted in packaging the gift items: cookies, pens, envelopes, stamps, and a personalized Christmas card for each inmate.
Christmas cards with messages for inmates were personalized during a special Meet • Worship • Serve Sabbath at Florida Hospital Church. (Photographer: Wilfredo Padillo)
Providing 1,000 men and women with the full Bible has resulted in a significant increase of Bible study among inmates. One spouse, whose husband was incarcerated, thanked the team for extending such kindness even though they did not know her husband.
In a time when fear seeks to drive love out of people’s hearts, it is good to know that selfless ambassadors still exist to spread the love of God. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:11 (ESV). Christmas Behind Bars continues to touch the lives of souls locked away from the outside world but never separated from the love of Christ.
In a time when fear seeks to drive love out of people’s hearts, it is good to know that selfless ambassadors still exist to spread the love of God. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:11 (ESV). Christmas Behind Bars continues to touch the lives of souls locked away from the outside world but never separated from the love of Christ.