What we are
I realize that some friends have questions about supporting Humanity for Prisoners because it's so difficult for us to explain just what we do. This unusual ministry doesn't bring religious lessons into the prison or hold services for prisoners, it doesn't provide religious or educational correspondence courses. All of those ministries are wonderful, and we thank God for ANYONE willing to help a prisoner in any way!
But we attempt to MODEL Christ:
-get a wheelchair to a crippled inmate who cannot get one from the state
-join a team trying to free a poor man who has served 35 years for a crime he did not commit
-help parents and grandparents of mentally ill children thoughtlessly thrown into the adult prison system by inconsiderate judges
-find a pleasant facility outside of prison for a dying inmate
-pray with a death row inmate minutes before his execution
-hold the hand of a Bosnian friend whose husband may be deported due to a disgusting wrongful conviction, thus leaving wife and children behind
-seek leniency for a teacher with a terminal illness, after prison officials rule that he may not see his 15 year old daughter before he dies
-sit at the side of prisoners who have no friends or family members during parole interviews, and
-visit prisoners just to lend an ear, regardless of whether we can help, when no one cares to see them.
Perhaps our work could best be described using a simple little story sent to me yesterday by one of our volunteers, about a four year old child:
His next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry.'
Doug Tjapkes, President
HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS
20 W. Muskegon Avenue
Muskegon, MI 49440
But we attempt to MODEL Christ:
-get a wheelchair to a crippled inmate who cannot get one from the state
-join a team trying to free a poor man who has served 35 years for a crime he did not commit
-help parents and grandparents of mentally ill children thoughtlessly thrown into the adult prison system by inconsiderate judges
-find a pleasant facility outside of prison for a dying inmate
-pray with a death row inmate minutes before his execution
-hold the hand of a Bosnian friend whose husband may be deported due to a disgusting wrongful conviction, thus leaving wife and children behind
-seek leniency for a teacher with a terminal illness, after prison officials rule that he may not see his 15 year old daughter before he dies
-sit at the side of prisoners who have no friends or family members during parole interviews, and
-visit prisoners just to lend an ear, regardless of whether we can help, when no one cares to see them.
Perhaps our work could best be described using a simple little story sent to me yesterday by one of our volunteers, about a four year old child:
His next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry.'
Doug Tjapkes, President
HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS
20 W. Muskegon Avenue
Muskegon, MI 49440
Comments