NAIROBI, Kenya /Christian Newswire/ — Continuing its efforts to relieve suffering in the developing world, Crossroad Bible Institute announces the opening of yet another international distribution center, this one in Kenya. This is the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based ministry’s twelfth distribution center worldwide and its fourth in Africa.

In Kenya, as in many African countries, prisons are [...]]]> NAIROBI, Kenya /Christian Newswire/ — Continuing its efforts to relieve suffering in the developing world, Crossroad Bible Institute announces the opening of yet another international distribution center, this one in Kenya. This is the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based ministry’s twelfth distribution center worldwide and its fourth in Africa.

In Kenya, as in many African countries, prisons are dirty, overcrowded, plagued by disease and lacking adequate health care. Due to these factors, a 2008 report stated, approximately forty-six prisoners die monthly. Mothers often raise their babies or young children in these dangerous conditions.

The CBI program will begin operation in the Naivasha Prison, a tightly regulated facility with 3,000 inmates, and four other prisons. Kenya has approximately 50,000 people behind bars.

The director of CBI Kenya is Jefferson Gathu, who also heads Cistern Materials Translation and Publishing Center, an organization that provides Christian literature for native tribes of Kenya and other parts of Africa. As in other developing nations, CBI Instructors not only hand-deliver the Bible study lessons and letters of discipleship to the students in prison but also provide inmates with basic necessities like food, medical supplies, blankets, soap and toilet paper. Gathu also heads efforts to organize medical camps, construct prison libraries and aid in reentry.

Director Gathu is assisted by Samuel Chege, who notes the importance of the CBI discipleship program, explaining, “Imprisoned people have heavy burdens of loneliness, guilt, bitterness, depression or confusion. We want inmates to know that they are capable, appreciated and doing a good job.”

CBI’s international program director, Cynthia Williams, recently attended the official CBI Kenya grand opening. Among the 120 guests were senior prison officials and chaplains, bishops, pastors and a representative from the Office of the Commissioner, all of them highly supportive of CBI.

CBI President Dr. David Schuringa remarks, “We are grateful for the shared vision of our Kenyan brothers and sisters and enthusiastic about the opportunity to work with them to serve God’s people in prison and reentering society in their home country.”

The fourth annual Returning Hearts Celebration(tm) reunited 574 children and teens with 247 incarcerated fathers for a [...]]]> STREAMWOOD, Ill. /Christian Newswire/ — Once considered America’s most violent prison, the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola recently teamed up with Awana, a leading youth and children’s ministry, to host the nation’s largest gathering of inmates and their kids.

The fourth annual Returning Hearts Celebration(tm) reunited 574 children and teens with 247 incarcerated fathers for a day of fun activities and reconciliation May 1. The event helps inmate dads to restore relationships with sons or daughters they haven’t connected with in years or rarely see. This is a crucial step in breaking the cycle of familial crime.

“Just being with my children overwhelmed me,” inmate Daryl Waters said of his Returning Hearts experience. “As I looked into my daughter’s eyes and encouraged her from God’s Word, she began to weep uncontrollably. I could sense Jesus was in our midst.”

Due to the success of Returning Hearts at Angola, Awana® Lifeline(tm) — the prison ministry of Awana — has expanded to 17 other prisons and jails across the U.S. and plans to add 11 more in the next three months. Awana Lifeline, working in conjunction with Prison Fellowship’s Executive Director for Florida and Georgia, Raeanne Hance, hosted the first Returning Hearts Celebration at Pompano Transition Center in Florida on May 22.

The next Returning Hearts event takes place at Avoyelles Correctional Center in Cottonport, Louisiana, on June 26. The Los Angeles County Jail, collaborating with Grace Baptist Church in Santa Clarita, California, hosts its third Returning Hearts event on September 24.

‘An unforgettable picture of God’s grace and love’

The carnival-style celebration’s main appeal is the day-long interaction between fathers and children. Inmates wait all year for this one day when they can simply be normal dads. They share Jesus’ offer of forgiveness with their kids and ask their children for forgiveness of their own.

“I will never become bored watching inmate fathers reconcile with their children,” said Awana President/CEO Jack Eggar. “Dad on bended knee asking for forgiveness is an unforgettable picture of God’s grace and love at work.”

Anne Rand, local volunteer and partnership developer for Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, served at Returning Hearts. She was deeply touched by the experience. Ms. Rand was one of 430 volunteers from 25 states and 151 churches. Eighteen of the volunteers at Returning Hearts were from Willow Creek.

“One dad, Irvin, was my hero for the day,” Ms. Rand said. “There was a point in the service when the dads were encouraged to speak the words to their children that they wanted to say. For five minutes straight, he spoke words of encouragement, repentance and love to his daughter (16 years old). Both dad and daughter left the day arm in arm. It was very heart-warming.”

‘A million-dollar weekend’

Judge Robert Downing of the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal also volunteered at Returning Hearts. Because he believes in the power of Jesus Christ to change the hearts of inmates and their children, he has volunteered nearly every year since the event started.

“We’ve tried several generations of psychology and sociology, and nothing seems to work. I’ve tried doing educational programs, and you just get smarter criminals,” Judge Downing said. “The reason is because it’s not changing the person. The only way to change the person is to have a moral compass. And the only way I have seen it work is for someone to accept Jesus Christ and be willing to make a change.”

Judge Downing believes Returning Hearts Celebration can be instrumental in turning inmates’ children away from a life of crime. This can ultimately save states millions of dollars.

“It’s $25,000 a year for someone to go to prison,” Judge Downing said. “The average sentence is 10 years. That means we’ve saved the state of Louisiana $250,000 per person that gets turned away from a life of crime. So if you save four kids, that’s a million-dollar weekend.”

About Awana Lifeline prison ministry
Returning Hearts Celebration is part of the Awana Lifeline prison ministry. Awana Lifeline helps keep the children of inmates from following their fathers to prison by encouraging an ongoing connection with their incarcerated dads who have become Christians. Through restored relationships, fathers can speak into their children’s lives and positively impact the choices they make. For every child that chooses not to commit a crime, there is one less victim of crime.

Besides Returning Hearts Celebration, Awana Lifeline also features Malachi Dads(tm), a yearlong program that trains and equips inmates to become better fathers and spiritual leaders to their children. This year, 119 men graduated from the program at Angola. Additional inmates participated in Malachi Dads at other prisons around the country.

Awana Lifeline provides an easily replicated model that churches can use to bring Returning Hearts Celebration or Malachi Dads to local prisons or jails. The Awana Lifeline Kit provides sample budget templates, press releases and prison considerations plus DVD segments, training outlines, volunteer forms and an e-tool resource CD. Available in mid-July, it can be pre-ordered at the Awana Store.

Reuniting fathers across America with their children Awana Lifeline’s expansion has resulted in numerous inmates taking their role as father more seriously, impacting thousands of children’s lives. “God intended the man to be the leader of the home,” said Los Angeles County Jail Deputy David Bates. “If you get a man to realize his actual title as a father and what that means and he’s incarcerated, it’s an extraordinary process to see him turn around and reunite back with his family.”

Deputy Bates has realized, like Judge Downing, that education alone is not the way to help inmates turn from a life of crime. “You can’t teach guys how to work on a wall or fix a fence or plumbing or work in the kitchen and think it’s going to rehabilitate them,” Deputy Bates said. “For 150 years we’ve been incarcerating men, and we know it hasn’t worked. The answer is to get into their hearts. To have him realize that he can develop a relationship with God and to ultimately put this into action.”

‘We’ve given these guys a purpose’

The National Fatherhood Initiative has been instrumental in providing some of the curriculum for Malachi Dads through its InsideOut Dad(tm) Christian program. Rev. Greg Austen, senior director of Corrections Programming, sees God’s hand at work.

“It’s kind of a wave that people need to catch right now,” Rev. Austen said. “God has really touched it, and it’s central to His heart. It’s about the transformation of men. It’s the whole Malachi Dads vision based on Chapter 4 of Malachi about returning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. We’ve given these guys a purpose — passing on a legacy to their family. That’s needed across the country.”

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. /Christian Newswire/ — Nicky Cruz will be traveling to San Salvador, capitol of El Salvador, on October 1st and 2nd, speaking to 40,000 young people in three soccer stadiums over a 2-day period. His team has secured permission to distribute free copies of his autobiography, Run Baby Run, to the [...]]]>

Run Baby Run

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. /Christian Newswire/ — Nicky Cruz will be traveling to San Salvador, capitol of El Salvador, on October 1st and 2nd, speaking to 40,000 young people in three soccer stadiums over a 2-day period. His team has secured permission to distribute free copies of his autobiography, Run Baby Run, to the students. They are currently raising donations to cover the costs of printing and shipping. He will also meet with President Funes to discuss, among other things, the country’s request for Cruz to serve as an official advisor to the El Salvadoran government on matters of youth and gang violence.

Cruz has already visited the national prisons in El Salvador, also at the government’s request, to meet with the leaders of the 18th Street Gang, and MS 13, the two most-feared drug trafficking gangs in the western hemisphere.

Cruz was once the leader of one of the most feared gangs in New York City, the Mau Maus. His story is chronicled in his international bestseller, Run, Baby Run, which has been translated into over three dozen languages with more than 12 million copies in print.

Cruz is also the subject of an upcoming Hollywood movie based on his life. Currently in pre-production, the film is set for international theatrical release in mid-2010.

Cruz travels extensively throughout the year recounting the miraculous change that happened in his life over 50 years ago. Recent outreaches in Eastern Europe (Lativa, Ukraine) drew thousands of attendees.

Cruz is also assisting with a new church plant and evangelistic outreach in Colorado Springs at The Springs Church, pastored by Gary Wilkerson, son of David Wilkerson (pastor of Times Square Church in NYC, and author of The Cross and the Switchblade.) He will be speaking at The Springs Church later this year.

In a letter sent today to the jail’s superintendent, Joseph Higgs, Jr., the ACLU asks for jail officials to guarantee in [...]]]> STAFFORD, Va. /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Virginia today demanded that officials at the Rappahannock Regional Jail immediately end their illegal practice of censoring religious material sent to detainees.

In a letter sent today to the jail’s superintendent, Joseph Higgs, Jr., the ACLU asks for jail officials to guarantee in writing that the jail will no longer censor biblical passages from letters written to detainees and to revise the jail’s written inmate mail policy to state that letters will not be censored simply because they contain religious material.

“It is nothing short of stunning that a jail would think it okay to censor the Bible and other religious material for no reason other than its religious nature,” said David Shapiro, staff attorney with the ACLU National Prison Project. “Such censorship violates both the rights of detainees to practice religion freely and the free speech rights of those wanting to communicate with detainees.”

The letter was prompted by a complaint brought to the ACLU by Anna Williams, a devout Christian whose son was detained at Rappahannock beginning in June of 2008 until his transfer earlier this year. Williams wanted to send her son religious material, including passages from the Bible, to support him spiritually during his confinement. But rather than deliver Williams’ letters to her son in full, jail officials removed any and all religious material, destroying the religious messages Williams sought to convey to her son. For example, after jail officials excised biblical passages, a three-page letter sent by Williams to her son was reduced to nothing more than the salutation, the first paragraph of the letter and the closing, “Love, Mom.”

Jail officials banned additional material from other letters Williams attempted to send her son, including passages from the Book of Proverbs, the Book of James, the Book of Matthew and an article that contained Christian perspectives on confronting isolation while in jail. Jail officials have variously cited prohibitions on “Internet pages” and “religious material sent from home” as reasons for the censorship.

“It is essential that jail officials abide by the law and the requirements of the U.S. Constitution,” said Daniel Mach, Director of Litigation for the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “People do not lose their right to religious worship simply because they are incarcerated.”

The ACLU’s letter also asks jail officials to revise the jail’s inmate mail policy to state that letters will not be censored merely because they contain material printed from the Internet or copied from the Internet and inserted into a letter using a word processor’s “cut and paste” feature.

“Arbitrarily banning religious material is in direct odds with our nation’s constitutional values,” said Rebecca Glenberg, Legal Director for the ACLU of Virginia. “Americans are free to practice the religion of their choice, or no religion at all, without interference from any government official.”

Other signatories to the ACLU’s letter are the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, the Rutherford Institute, Prison Fellowship, the Friends Committee on National Legislation and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

A copy of the ACLU’s letter is available online at: http://www.aclu.org/prison/restrict/40257res20090709.html

Additional information about the ACLU National Prison Project is available online at: http://www.aclu.org/prison

Additional information about the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief at: http://www.aclu.org/religion

Additional information about the ACLU of Virginia is available online at: http://www.acluva.org