Changing Hearts Transforming Lives Impacting the World Kairos Prison Ministry New Team Member Guide to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Acts 26:18
Thank you! Thank you for having a servant s heart for the Lord and for responding to His urging to visit the prisoner by volunteering to serve on this Kairos team. You have lots of I was in prison and you came to visit me Matthew 25:36B questions and most of those will be answered during Team Formation meetings. But this New Team Member Guide is intended to help you get started by answering a lot of big picture questions you may have as you start this journey of love and servanthood. Share God s Love The Kairos motto starts with Changing Hearts and that refers to what happens during the Kairos Short Course. But team members do not change hearts. The Holy Spirit does that. Our role is to reflect the love that God has for all his creation. Perhaps for the first time in their lives, the inmate participants may come heart to heart with the very love of God, expressed though the team members. Not Bible Study Kairos is not a Bible Study. You are asked not to bring your Bible to the Short Course. You will find lots of inmates who are experts at quoting Bible verses, but they do not have experience with an immersion in the very love of God for them. That is what we are about pouring the love of the Lord out through our living out that love and pouring it out on the inmates. Ecumenical Servants Kairos is a Christian ministry, and not a denominational expression. We love each other, even in our different expressions of the Christian journey. We lay our differences down as we enter the prison and live in the one thing that unites us the love and mercy of God through Jesus. Listen, Listen, Love, Love The theme of the Kairos team meetings is Listen, Listen, Love, Love and it is an appropriate expression of our role as team members. We focus on having a listening heart, and sharing the Love of God. What s Expected of Me? As a Kairos volunteer, there are certain expectations: 1. Remember, it s not WHAT you know but WHO you know that s important. Do not think you have to be a Bible scholar or spiritual counselor to be an effective team member. You only need to reflect the love of God through Jesus. 2. You are expected to get and become familiar with the Kairos Program Manual. 3. You are expected to attend the team meetings. 4. You are expected to be present at all days of the Kairos Short Course. 5. You are expected to get your Team Application Form submitted in a timely fashion (before the first team meeting), and complete your Correctional Institution Volunteer Training session. 6. You are expected to be available to be placed on the roster for Continuing Ministry (including the Instructional Reunion and Journey Program sessions) following the Kairos Short Course. 7. You are expected to follow the prison rules that you will learn about during the team meetings. 8. You are expected to love the Lord and to reflect that love to the other team members and the inmates. And, Kairos fully expects that you will be blessed beyond your expectations as you follow Christ s call to visit the prisoner.
9. Continuing Ministry Weekly Prayer & Share The Kairos graduates meet in their small groups on a weekly basis. Volunteers are not expected to participate in these sessions except in the early days of mentoring.. 1. What is Kairos all about? A good place to start is to make sure you have your own copy of the Kairos Inside Program Manual (also referred to as the Red Manual because of its cover color). Become familiar with Section 1 Journey Program The frequency of these sessions vary depending on the institution. Past team members are encouraged to return to enjoy the reality of how God is changing the lives of those, who have lived so long in darkness. Your presence as part of the Kairos free world community is a great encouragement to the new Christian community. Some non Kairos graduates may be invited but their numbers should be limited. Retreat In Australia this does not often happen, however it can enrich the program if it is possible. About three months after the most recent Kairos Short Course, there is a Retreat where some past team members can come back in and meet with the Kairos graduates for a short revival retreat to encourage the inmates on their continuing journey of faith in a very dark place. The Retreat can occur within a single day (sometimes 2 days). A future Short Course leader may be assigned to organize and oversee the Retreat as a preparatory step to becoming a Leader for a Kairos Short Course. It is important to understand that the Kairos ministry is not about running a big event like the Kairos Short Course. Journey The Short Course Program is simply the doorway to the heart of Kairos which is the weekly Prayer and Share spiritual accountability grouping that the Kairos graduates conduct among themselves. Become familiar with the Kairos Riverbanks at the beginning of Section 3 in the Program Manual. Become familiar with the ministry MISSION, VISION, CORE VALUES, and STATEMENT OF FAITH
2. Team Meetings Where there are 24 inmate, who are Guests (or Participants) at a Short Course, a Kairos team consists of about 30 persons, some who are on the Inside Team and some who are on the Support Team. There will be less team members if there are less guests and/or food is not allowed to be brought into the prison. The Inside Team go inside the prison to work face to face with the inmates, who the manager and chaplain chose to attend the Short Course. The Support Team works at an outside venue (often at a supporting church) and they prepare the food for the team members (and, if allowed, guests) and are showering the Short Course in prayer and other agape (e.g. letters, biscuits). The Team Formation (time spent is 34-36 hours), spread over the number of meetings determined by the Leader, is designed to accomplish four key functions: - Spiritual preparation to transform the team from a bunch of Christians into the unified Body of Christ. - Logistical preparation to get you ready for the experience of ministry in a prison (not the same as ministry in a local church environment). - Job Training to get you ready for the specific job that you are assigned to do. - Short Course Talk reviews to help the speakers make sure they are working within the expected guideline for their talk. Each team member is expected to attend all the team meetings, but we realize that conflicts do arise. However, if you will miss more than two meetings, you should consider serving on a different team at a different time. 8. Instructional Reunion During the week after the Kairos Short Course, a session (day or half day) is held, where inside team members come back and meet with the Kairos graduates to teach them about the continuing small spiritual accountability groups that they will participate in on an ongoing, weekly basis. This training session is called the Instructional Reunion. Where such a special session is not allowed by the institution, this activity occurs during the first Journey Program sessions. During the Kairos Short Course, the Guests (Participants) experienced a Table Family made up of those persons at their assigned table. Now, the Instructional Reunion asks them to either stay together weekly or form more suitable groups of graduates as brothers in their own, continuing small prayer and share group. It is this on-going Prayer and Share Community inside the prison where lives are transformed as they help each other journey to becoming disciples for Christ as they live in the darkness of prison. You will be supplied your own Kairos Name Tag and any necessary prison volunteer identity.
- Do not wear green clothing that is the color clothing that the inmates wear. - You must wear collared shirts with no logos or messaging - You must NOT wear shorts - You must NOT wear sandals or open toed shoes - You should not wear jewelry - Only bring in your driver s license for identification no money. - You can bring car keys if you are driving. These are stored in a locker. - Do NOT bring your mobile phone. (that is a crime in itself in a prison) 3. Agape Kairos uses the term agape which is a New Testament Greek term meaning love with no expectation in return. There will be a lot of general examples of Agape from posters from churches and Sunday School classes, to placemats created by children, to an incredible prayer chain representing hundreds of people praying for God s love to wash over their hearts in a new way. The team members are expected to help accumulate those examples of general agape. Closing Ceremony On the last afternoon, there is a Closing Ceremony where the graduating Participants are introduced to the Support team and outside guests. This is also an opportunity for the Participant to express what the Short Course experience, smothered in Agape Love, has meant to them and what they are going to do about it. This is a moving experience where invited free world guests can see the miraculous impact of the Holy Spirit that has been possible through the loving sacrifice of volunteers like yourself. Additionally, there is a powerful moment that occurs on the Kairos Short Course when each Guest (Participant) is given a bag of personal agape. These are personal letters from team members and others to the individual inmate, expressing encouragement in Christ. Each team member is expected to write an individual, hand written letter for each guest. You will learn more about how to go about creating these letters, but you should not wait till the last minute to do these messages from God for the individual guests.
4. Job Assignments Each team member will be assigned a specific job responsibility. During a team meeting, there will be a training session to prepare you for your assigned job. 5. Greeting Most inmates are never really listened to, certainly in prison, but most likely all their life, too. Kairos starts the Short Course by striving to have each team member assigned to greet a Guest (Participant). You will meet your assigned Guest on the first day and the purpose is to just be a friendly face that is focused on the inmate. You ll again greet them on the next morning, and occasionally check with them during the Short Course to see how they are doing. 6. Short Course Accommodation Arrangements are made for the accommodation of Team Members each night during the Short Course. This may be at a camp site,/conference centre, motel or billeting with local families. 7. The Kairos Short Course The team is expected to be present for the entire Short Course. If you are unable to make that commitment, you should consider serving on a different team at a different time. All people assigned to the inside team are required to have a current, valid volunteer status with the appropriate Correctional Institution. You will be given a volunteer application form prior to the first team meeting that you will fill in and return to the Leader. Do not delay this because it takes time to process the application. When approved for training, you be required to attend a prison induction session (often as part of a Team Formation meeting), in order to get your volunteer status approval, which you must have prior to your being able to enter the prison for the Kairos event. Sometimes, the prison will offer the volunteer training session on the first day of the Short Course before the program begins. Ministry in a maximum security prison is not the same as a local jail environment. There are very strict rules and we do not make or modify those rules. You will learn about the relevant rules during the team meeting sessions. However, there are certain rules with which you need to make sure you comply: