Indiana—On Sun., Feb. 17, Indiana Academy (IA) students joined a total workforce of approximately 300 people to assist with Christmas Behind Bars, a prison outreach ministry, under the direction of Lemuel Vega of Bluffton, Ind. Each year volunteers with the organization visit as many as 35 county jails and eight penitentiaries. During these outreach opportunities, volunteers share the love of Jesus through music and the spoken word. In an age where many prison ministries are finding doors closed to them, Christmas Behind Bars, which has been in existence for more than 11 years, has seen an increased interest in its work, and has been invited to return on a regular basis to many facilities. While the ministry is called Christmas Behind Bars, its work extends throughout the calendar year.
One unique feature of the ministry is the fact that volunteers are also permitted to distribute gift bags to the inmates, which include some basic hygiene items, snack foods, letters of encouragement and, most importantly, quality Christian literature, Bible study request cards and Bibles.
Sorting the many items required for the gifts, then packaging them into grocery-sized paper bags, requires a well-organized army of volunteers. A goal for the "Bagging Day" that took place on Feb. 17 was to prepare 12,000 bags in a five-hour time period. Under the direction of Vega, Ron Kelly (Cicero Church pastor) and Kurt Bandel of the Cicero Church, volunteers converged upon the Creative Assembly and Packaging complex near IA, whose management team graciously provided warehouse space for the bagging process.
Along with many students and staff from IA, a cross-section of persons was involved in the event. Preschool children working alongside persons in their 80s provided a multi-generational approach to ministry. Joining in the effort were volunteers from cities across Indiana. Also assisting was at least one former inmate who has benefited from the ministry of Christmas Behind Bars and a chaplain from an Indiana county jail, who spoke to the volunteers to express his support and appreciation for the program.
After singing songs of praise and praying together, the volunteers were divided into six teams and quickly swung into action. Working in an assembly-line fashion, a sweet spirit of cooperation and goodwill was evident throughout the warehouse.
The question remained: Would it be possible to package 12,000 bags in such a short amount of time? The time passed quickly, and at approximately 1:00 p.m., just four hours after beginning the work, a welcomed announcement was made; the 12,000 bags had been completed!
Nathanael Hainey, a senior at IA, reflected on the day, "It was nice to see so many people coming together to help those who are often overlooked, but have a need for God just as much as everyone else."
At the conclusion of the event, Kelly stated: "God's church needs to recapture the joy of working together." Truly, for the many volunteers from IA and several Seventh-day Adventist churches from across the conference that joy was experienced, and will be multiplied many times by the inmates who receive the gift bags.
For more information about the ministry of Christmas Behind Bars, you may reach Lemuel Vega at 888-536-8342 or contact@christmasbehindbars.com.
Beth Bartlett, registrar, Indiana Academy
