When James Smoker met Bruce, Bruce was serving out the last part of a 25-year sentence in one of Alabama’s prisons.
It was a cold, dark, unloving environment, Smoker said.
And it was there that Bruce met Christ.
“In prison it’s hard to find people you trust, and we want to be there for those guys with the hope that God loves them. Bruce said chaplains made an impact on him by bringing that hope to him right where he was,” said Smoker, chaplain and recruitment director for the We Care Program.
The program, based in Atmore, places missionary chaplains in the prisons to serve as assistants to the state chaplain.
“We disciple, we walk alongside these guys,” Smoker said. “We are blessed with an open door from the Department of Corrections and currently have 20 full-time and part-time chaplains throughout the state.”
‘Need is great’
And they need more help, he said.
“The need is great,” Smoker said. “There are state chaplains in the Montgomery, Birmingham and Troy areas asking for assistance.”
The prison culture, he said, is like a foreign missions field “where you have certain boundaries or procedures you have to go through to get inside.”
It takes training. It takes approval. But once you get inside, the door is wide open and the opportunities are vast, Smoker said.
“We’re always looking for volunteers, and there’s not enough. There’s so much to be done,” he said. “It’s always great to see how God calls and inspires an individual to be a part.”
Assistant chaplain
Smoker himself is inside the prison walls five days a week in his role as a part-time assistant chaplain.
“We’re there on a daily basis and try to be consistent with that,” he said. “We get to share with them and be their spiritual counselors.”
And chaplains get to be there at times when the inmates most need love and hope, Smoker said.
“We can be there for them when they’ve had a death in the family or when they themselves are going through health problems,” he said.
Smoker got to sit by the deathbed of one inmate recently as he lost his battle with cancer and “let him know he was not alone.”
Connecting with church
But he’s also gotten to help inmates like Bruce connect with churches and get set up to start over once they’re released from prison.
“There’s such a huge need for churches to step up and help them transition,” Smoker said.
Another opportunity for churches to get involved is through the next ReNew Hope event, set for Jan. 22–25, 2017. Volunteers meet for a day of orientation and a missions rally in Montgomery before spreading out into the Montgomery, Troy, Birmingham and Atmore areas for four days of ministry in prison.
Volunteer event
More than 20,000 inmates are touched by this event.
“We invite volunteers to come in for that week and place them in groups of 5 to 10 to go into the prison and build relationships,” he said. “It’s a great way to come see what prison ministry is like.”
If anyone is thinking about becoming involved in prison ministry, Smoker said he would challenge him to “just go in, see the need and give it a try.”
The need for Light is great, he said.
“We are about investing in lives and planting seeds,” Smoker said. “And we have a God who is in the business of saving souls.”
For more information about ReNew Hope or We Care, visit www.wecareprogram.org.
Share with others: