Despite restrictions, local jail and prison ministries expanding

By SIMONE CARR

In May last year, Billy Graham stirred up the evangelical fires. San Diegans were not only challenged, but trained to carry on the Great Commission. Part of this training and follow-up program focused on prison ministries, with a united effort from Prison Fellowship Ministries and Operation Starting Line. They visited inmates and recruited volunteers. Tom Heyer was one of them.

“I felt that God was calling me to do it,” said Heyer, who had been involved in prison ministries in the past. The team of volunteers were trained and passed a background check before ministering at the R.J. Donovan State Correctional Facility in south San Diego.

Heyer valued the experience. Soon after, he discovered that a group at his own church, Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, was getting together to plan a prison ministry. He joined them. Two weeks after the first meeting, the leader of the group had to quit. Heyer volunteered to make a few phone calls to see if any doors may open. They did, and Heyer took over the leadership of the team.

On the phone, Heyer was as unassuming as he sounds in this story. “We just started six months ago,” he explained.

Over those six months, however, Heyer has been able to put together a couple of teams committed to spending an evening or a morning every week to minister to the inmates at the prison. Considering the training and background checks involved, and the importance of the personal commitment, it was quite a feat.

Commitment is important because state prisons don’t just open their doors to anyone who wants to minister. Once a person is trained and approved, he or she should continue.

Presently, Heyer has two teams giving a Bible study every Wednesday night at R. J. Donovan, and another team on Friday mornings. “One of the teams on Wednesdays is interdenominational,” he said. “The other team teaches classes from Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.”

“At Shadow Mountain, the whole congregation is going through the book at this time. Even the college and the schools are using it for six weeks, so we are all on the same page. It’s especially meaningful to bring the same message to the prison,” he continued.

Shadow Mountain has been involved for years in a Prison Ministry with Prison Fellowship. The Angel Tree has been a yearly event. This is the first time, however, that a church team is committed and organized to minister in a prison regularly.

Their ministry is now divided into three main parts: the ministry to the inmates, to the ex-inmates on parole, and to the families of inmates. The church is also trying to start a Prison Ministry for women, at the Metropolitan Correction Center downtown or at Las Colinas.

For anyone interested in ministering at Las Colinas, Chaplain Vi Hoye suggests to send a letter. “As we have need of people, we will call,” she said. “We are always especially interested in new musical groups. We have concerts for almost every holiday.”

There are, however, many restrictions and limitations, and not everyone who wants to minister in a prison is able to do it. Presently, only 750 people are permitted to minister in jails throughout the county.

“The number was set about 6 years ago by the Sheriff Department,” recalled Art Lyons, one of the head administrator chaplains for the San Diego Sheriff’s Department and executive director for Re-Entry Prison and Jail Ministry in Chula Vista.

Lyons, who has been working with the Sheriff Department for 20 years, remembers that those limitations came at first as very difficult news. “They had a meeting, and only those who showed up were permitted to continue their ministry in prisons. Some were not there because they hadn’t received the notice, but it didn’t matter,” he recalled.

Now things are more organized. The department is still periodically weeding out people, but mostly those who are just figureheads. “In all my years of work, I have never seen the Sheriff Department refuse entry in jail to someone who has been actively ministering,” Lyons noted.

Security is the motive behind any restriction. “The department is more concerned about security than about hurting people’s feelings,” he also explained.

Hoye, chaplain at Las Colinas Detention Facility for women in Santee, agrees. “If you are on the list, be active,” she said.

According to Hoye, the restrictions are not affecting the services at all. “We have 16 services every Sunday,” she explained, “in different languages.” The facility also offers Bible studies. Bibles are provided by the county, while Christian books, newspapers, and other publications are donated.

Attendance to services and Bible studies is voluntary, but according to Hoye, the rates are quite high, around 75%. The greatest demand, however, is for one-on-one counseling.

The ministry also continues on the outside. “The ladies need job training, rehabilitation, support, sometimes a place to live,” Hoye explained.

Lyons’s Re-Entry Prison and Jail Ministry seeks to provide those resources. His web site, www.reentry.org, is a great source of information for chaplains and jail ministers.

After 20 years of ministering in this field, Lyons’ eyes are open to the realities. Is this a fruitful ministry? “It depends on what you mean by fruitful,” he replied. “If you visit a prison once in a while and see great numbers of people attending the services, you may get a false impression.”

The proof of the pudding is in the numbers of those who stick to their faith and their resolutions after leaving. Lyons knows that it’s a type of fruit that requires hard, constant work.

Tough restrictions, tireless efforts, little rewards... Who typically chooses such a ministry? Lyons chose it because he was an alcoholic at the age of 18 and was in prison for alcohol and drug-related crimes. “I believe I can relate to the inmates and they relate to me,” he said.

Mark Watkins from North Coast Church in Vista became involved because of his friendship with a member of his church, Adrian Torres, who is now in prison. For two years, he has been visiting him regularly and helping him to set up a Bible study for other inmates.

By making independent visits to prisoners, Watkins eludes the system of restrictions that bind churches and organizations. There is a limit of 8 prisoners that he can visit, but he could not possibly handle more than that anyway.

“It’s very time-consuming,” he said. “Besides the traveling time, you have to wait a couple of hours each time, just to process your request. It’s also inconvenient, as you have to meet the inmates during visiting hours and there are so many other people around you.”

In spite of the sacrifices, Watkins is convinced of the importance of this one-on-one approach. “Organizations can be too institutional,” he explained. “People tend to come and go. Many inmates have told me that they meet someone who comes to minister and then never see him again.”

“Inmates need real relationships,” he continued. “I believe that if you are sincere and committed to a relationship with an individual, God’s love will be felt as real.”

To inspire others to start such relationships, Watkins was inspired by his pastor to set up a pen-pal program. His web site, www.truthfreesus.org, is full of ideas, testimonies and answers. He believes that correspondence with other Christians is especially important for new believers in jails. “They feel isolated,” he explained.