Edinburgh Kairos

Praise the Lord God Almighty! From the very start of this adventure, prayers have been lifted from so many sources. From the start of Team Meeting #1 on July 13th to the end of the closing ceremony on September 29th, the presence and power of God has been welcomed and joyfully received! Our key Scripture directing us for Edinburgh #9 is 1 Cor. 13:13. "So faith, hope, love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love!" The reason this verse resonated with us is the desired impact on our 24 participants to be long-term, even eternal. We believe that indeed has happened. All 24 men starting the weekend with us, stayed the entire weekend and received crosses and Bibles. Some met individually with team members for prayer and counsel, but all participated in their family groups. A change in the participants by Sunday was evidenced by smiles, sharing, singing, praying, and hugs seen throughout the entire room. Several men shared at an open mic, closing or shared persona...

Have you ever thought about sharing your Kairos weekend experience at your Church?  One easy way to do that is through your church's bulletins or newsletters.  Here is an example of one; KAIROS PRISON MINISTRY FALL RETREAT AT EDINBURGH  CORRECTIONAL FACILITY September 26th through 29th 2019 Kairos is a Greek word meaning in "God's Special Time" or "In the Fullness of Time." It is a special time for 24 men incarcerated in the Edinburgh Correctional Facility to spend four days with 26 Kairos volunteers.   These volunteers are men from different religious denominations who have formed one Christian team to show God's love. They are all focused on creating an atmosphere where the love of God is visible and present.  As a symbol of this love, large plates of cookies are placed on each table. These plates remain filled while the men listen as the team presents each of the Kairos Talks.    We will use 1100 dozen cookies over the weekend, givin...

This past Saturday we started our journey to Kairos # 9 at the Edinburgh Correctional Facility.  We had 19 volunteers show up, so there is still plenty of room on the team if you still thinking about joining.  Mark lead a great training and if you missed it, you can catch up by reviewing the material covered at:   https://www.edinburghkairos.org/team-formation-training-1

We had a successful Kairos picnic, the food was great and fun was had by all.  Mark stepped into his leadership role and talked about the upcoming team formation meetings for Edinburgh Kairos# 9. I think it is fair to say Mark is a natural weekend leader and we will have a great weekend to look forward to this fall.

Greetings in the name of Christ! Do you hunger to be about something that has a great impact? Is it too much to dream that in this life we might make an eternal difference, to be a mighty game changer? If this is your heart, would you consider joining us for Kairos #9 at Edinburgh Correctional Facility (ECF)? The mission of Kairos Prison Ministry is to share the transforming love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ to impact the hearts and lives of incarcerated men, women, and youth, as well as their families, to become loving and productive citizens of their communities. So “the great impact”, “the making an eternal difference”, and “mighty game changer” is JESUS CHRIST. We just want to be used by God to make His difference starting in the lives of men at ECF. We can testify that God does indeed move as only He can! The dates for the Kairos #9 are September 26 through 29, 2019. We are forming the team of volunteers needed for our weekend. We will gather on five (that’s right, five) Satur...

I have been answering the question “why I do Kairos” for over 11 years. Each weekend presents new experiences, good or not so good. Each experience blesses me with an understanding of not only who the offenders are, but who I am also. I’ve come a long way since I was asked to work my first Kairos weekend in 2007. I turned down the opportunity because, like Rod’s initial thinking, I knew everyone in prison deserved to be there, and I didn’t. Matthew 25: 31 to 46 talks about “doing for the least of these”. I love these words and used them to tell myself I had done all I could for those who have the least, but when I reached verses 45 and 46 I faltered, even now. The Holy Spirit points us in the right direction and it’s up to us to do the right thing. The right thing in 2007 would’ve been to at least test the Spirit and see for myself what prison was like. So, in the fall of 2007 I entered prison for a weekend and was unbelievably blessed. I have been blessed by each weekend since. ...

Kairos is an amazing ministry bringing the love of God to incarcerated men & women in 494 prisons in 10 countries around the work.   Building Christian communities where they are needed most.  This changing of of hearts while in prison also unexpectedly helps lower revision rates.   In the USA there are around 2.3 million people currently in the nation's prisons or jails and with recidivism rates as high a 30%   it is a huge problem,  and one that  the Kairos ministry can have a huge impact on as shown in this study by the State of Florida. Because of this the Kairos programs has gained the respect of many correctional programs. In the state of Indiana Kairos is in 16 facilities where we also help lower recidivism  Kairos Reduces Recidivism Rates In a study of 505 inmates released from Florida prisons, the recidivism rate was 15.7% among those who had participated in one Kairos session, and 10% among those...

Why Kairos? This is a common question that is asked at the start of the team training sessions. I thought it would be important to take a deeper dive into that simple question to better understand why we support this ministry Robert Schellenberg Team Leader Edinburgh Kairos #10 I do Kairos because I believe that this is where God wants me to serve. The prison and the prisoners are where I feel comfortable. These are my people. Having lived a life of addiction and getting clean, I know that service work is an important aspect of recovery. More importantly a recovery through Christ. A lot of people struggle with the chains of addiction especially drug addiction. But there is a way out and that is through Jesus. People should choose to serve in an area that they are passionate about and I have made it my mission to tell the broken and hopeless that there is hope and there is a future for them. I also go into the Morgan County Jail every Thursday night and lead a bible stud...