Seated at a reentry ministry’s breakfast event, I glanced around at the faces of those in attendance, my mind racing with memories. I saw friends, chaplains, and mentors who had been involved since the beginning of the reentry ministry twenty years ago. As I listened to the speakers, it became clear that many of the challenges faced by formerly incarcerated people remain unchanged. The personal and systemic societal obstacles we addressed years ago stubbornly persist. I leaned over and asked a friend, “Have we made a difference?”
Many of the volunteer mentors at Crossroads have asked me the same question. It is an understandable question to ponder as we endeavor to live out our faith in a broken world. One might easily conclude that our world’s challenges are insurmountable. I’ve been in conversations where people ask, “Why bother trying? I am just going to live my life.”
Christians in prison may ask themselves these same questions as they strive to live out Jesus’ calling on their lives. For example, their cellmates may not want to hear about Jesus despite unmistakable changes to their way of living. Some may face severe brokenness in their families despite their best efforts to bring healing and restoration.
I recently presented Crossroads’ mentorship program to a church and had the chance to meet the congregants. A man humbly shared that he was on parole and described how meaningful it was for Crossroads mentors to visit him through their letters for many years. He didn’t have many other visitors during his incarceration, but the mentors faithfully discipled and encouraged him. He had a hopeful spirit, equipped to disciple others and share the same mercy, grace, and acceptance he received from his mentors.
God has called us to bring reconciliation into the world just as we have experienced reconciliation with Him (2 Corinthians 5:17–20). How do we do this? Should the first question we ask be about making a difference, or should it be about being a difference? Recognizing the power of the Holy Spirit working through us can help us shift our perspective (Acts 2:1–12). We cannot fix things on our own, but we can be the hands and feet of Jesus, confident in His power that works through us (Matthew 25:34–40). We can be a difference by pouring out love into the brokenness of this world and trusting God to do the rest (Mark 12:28–31). “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).
At the reentry event, my question faded as I thought about the stories of many in that room. I saw people who had been released from prison years earlier, uncertain about their futures, now on the other side of their obstacles and enjoying successful lives. I also saw people from the church that had supported them after their release, initially unsure of how to help but willing to walk alongside them all the way. They didn’t know if they would make a difference, but they started by being a difference.
Interested in learning more about how you can be a difference to people in prison? Learn more about mentoring through Crossroads.
Douglas Cupery is the director of church engagement at Crossroads Prison Ministries in Grand Rapids, MI. Since his release from prison, he has served as a church pastor and led prison in-reach and post-incarceration ministries. He is married to Hendrina, and they have two grown children and two wonderful grandchildren.