Submitted by: Phil Darling
Kairos Advisory Council
Toledo Correctional Institution
pldarling70@gmail.com
The pastor of Grace United Methodist Church, Perrysburg, recently spoke about how Christians are called to serve others. She said that every Christian is considered a “call”-unteer and elaborated as follows:
1) We were Created to serve. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
2) We are Called to serve. “And you are also among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.” Romans 1:6
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called.” Ephesians 4:4
3) We are Commanded to serve. “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” Galatians 5:13
These Scripture passages make it clear that Christians are called to serve others. One fertile mission field in our area is Toledo Correctional Institution (ToCI), a maximum-security prison with 850 male inmates. Since 2003, volunteers from Kairos Prison Ministry have been the face of Jesus to the inmates at ToCI.
There are several ways to be a “call”-unteer for Kairos Prison Ministry:
A) Go inside the prison and minister directly to the inmates. (These opportunities are limited to men 18 years of age and older.) Twice a year, Kairos holds three-day retreats for selected groups of inmates. Kairos volunteers also make weekly visits to inmates who have participated on one of these retreats.
B) Bake cookies which are distributed to all ToCI inmates during Kairos retreats.
C) Participate in the prayer vigil which takes place throughout the course of each Kairos retreat.
D) Provide funds to support the Kairos ministry. Kairos is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization (per the Internal Revenue Service) and is funded entirely by donations. We seek support from individuals, churches, businesses, and organizations.
An excellent way to learn more about us is to check out our website at www.kairostoledo.com. Questions about Kairos can be directed to the following email addresses:
Inquiries about becoming a volunteer: outreach@kairostoledo.com
Group sponsorship questions: sponsorship@kairostoledo.com
Questions about cookies: cookies@kairostoledo.com
Other questions: info@kairostoledo.com
