Edinburgh Kairos

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...