“A bag of cookies….two lives saved”.
Tyrone came to prison in 1994 full of hate and anger. Facing a life sentence, he had no hope of having a normal life. A speech impediment made him the butt of ridicule and abuse. “In 1995 I was in Central Prison and for some reason, out of curiosity I suppose; I signed up for a Kairos weekend. I was in a bad place. I had plans to kill another inmate who was bullying me.”
After each talk during the weekend there would be a discussion and because of my stuttering I kept quiet. The Kairos volunteers kept asking, “what do you think about the talk Tyrone”? Finally I mumbled, “I don’ttttttalkkk sssooo good”. The Kairos guy looked at me and said, “you sound fine to me” and from that moment until this very day I do not stutter any more”. That’s when I knew Kairos was something special. But that was not all. On Saturday we were asked to list the names of persons we held in unforgiveness. That night we offered those names up to God in forgiveness and they disappeared ( the names were written on rice paper which dissolves when placed in water). I had written down the name of the inmate I had planned to kill for abusing me. We were given a bag of cookies to take to a person in
the prison whom we held in contempt. I took the cookies to that man and forgave him for abusing me. That night two lives were saved from death, mine and his.
Thanks to Kairos, 25 years later I am a free man within prison walls because at a Kairos weekend I found Christ in the faces and embraces of men just like me, men whom God had set free from anger and hate, so they could love and be loved by all those who crossed their path.
Kairos Prison Ministry is an Interdenominational team of volunteers -both clergy and laypersons- ministering to the incarcerated.
Kairos is a four-day weekend teaching and demonstrating what God’s agape love, unconditional love, is like. Click here to view a 7-minute video showing you what a Kairos weekend is all about.
Kairos is very similar to the Methodist Walk to Emmaus weekends, the Catholic, Presbyterian, and Episcopal Cursillo weekends, and the Lutheran Via de Cristo weekends.
The Kairos program serves in 472 prisons and communities (17 in North Carolina) in 35 states in the U.S. and in 9 additional countries: Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, Peru, South Africa, and the United kingdom. As the Kairos team keeps growing, we can expand the ministry to additional prisons. Visit kairosnc.org to see where we serve in North Carolina.
Each year for more than two decades volunteers from Central have visited in our local prisons bringing words of hope and a God who frees the soul through Bible studies, serving on the prisons Community Resource Council, volunteer chaplains and through teams of Kairos volunteers .
Every year additional volunteers are needed to continue the life changing ministries to our local prisons. Even if you are not a member of Central you are welcomed to become a volunteer/team member and bring the Good News to those who are imprisoned in body and soul.
- Become an Inside Team Member: See Upcoming Events Below
- Join the Prayer Vigil: See Upcoming Events Below.
- Support the Weekend through your Financial Gifts:
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- Cash
- Check made out to: Kairos of NC (memo line: Craggy CC #6)
- Debit or Credit Card: kairosnc.org/edonation
- Attending the Closing Ceremony on Sunday: Contact Hugh Myer or John Klees
- For More Information Contact:
- Hugh Meyer: phone: 828-424-9109, email: popmeyer3@gmail.com
- John Klees: phone: 828-667-0580, email: 56john44@charter.net
Kairos Upcoming Events:
To Be Determined