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Kairos Prison Ministry is an international prison ministry that provides two yearly events inside area prisons. The format is much like Cursillo. Kairos Inside is present in each of the correctional facilities in Alabama. The program has been successful and continues to minister to inmates.
Another program of Kairos is called Kairos Outside. Kairos Outside is for women who have a loved one in prison. The weekend is held twice a year and it, too, follows the Cursillo format. I had the pleasure of attending a Kairos Outside in October. It was a memorable weekend and I learned quite a bit about this committed group. Approximately forty pilgrims gathered in Calera, Alabama, women from all walks of life---wives, mothers, grandmothers, daughters, aunts---all gathered for a weekend of encouragement, fellowship, and peace
We were treated like royalty. We were pampered, waited on, fed, ministered to, prayed over and for. Mostly, however, we were accepted. We were able to tell our stories and were met with compassion, caring, and unconditional love. At the closing, we were told there were folks from all over the country who had come to celebrate the weekend with us. The community room was packed. Several pilgrims shared their testimony of their fight with addiction and their pain of being separated from their loved one. It was both emotional and freeing. The weekend ended with every one promising to keep in touch and a promise to come back for a reunion.
The Commission on Prison Ministry in our diocese has invited a representative from Kairos Outside to visit us with the thought of hosting a weekend here. This is a wonderful and successful ministry helping us as we answer the call of Christ to love our neighbor. Please pray for this ministry and your commission as we continue to seek God’s will for ministering to these men and women who need us.
The Rev. Sandra Mayer is a retired priest living in Monroeville.