Prisoners find freedom in Alpha program
A popular evangelism course is having great success in prisons and detention centres across Canada.
Last year, about 2,300 inmates took an Alpha course in 115 correctional institutions in the country.
"I think we respond best to God when we're broken, and people in prison are broken, so all those barriers come down and people are searching," says Sue Bennett, the Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.-based director of Alpha for Prisons.
"I have found the impact they will tell us overwhelmingly that Alpha is a place where they feel loved, accepted and not judged. It's the nonjudgmental piece that really means a lot to them."
Al Bayne, regional Alpha director for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and northwestern Ontario, recently reported on the success the program is having in his region.
Chaplains at Headingley Correctional Institution, located just outside of Winnipeg, ran their first Alpha course last summer and followed it up with a second one in the fall, reaching a total of about 35 prisoners.
In Saskatoon, 46 prisoners signed up for an Alpha course offered last year. Regulations restrict the number of prisoners that can meet at one time, so the local Alpha coach increased the number of courses she runs each year from two to four.
And in Ontario, a chaplain at Thunder Bay Correctional Centre ran his first Alpha course in 2012. After seeing the positive impact it had on the prison, he is planning to run several more this year.
"I feel very excited because this is Kingdom work," Bayne says. "It's extremely rewarding because the prisoners are so responsive and so interested and so appreciative that someone would bring [the] course to them."
Greg Dunwoody, a chaplain at Headingley, says he appreciates the Alpha course not only because it gives prisoners an extended opportunity to explore who Jesus is, but also because it gives prisoners the chance to explore their own story and faith journey.
"We meet in very small groups where the emphasis is on [the prisoners] and what they know about Jesus, or what they have been told to believe about Jesus," Dunwoody says.
"What's beautiful about Alpha is that nobody is there to say, 'You're right' or 'You're wrong' or 'You need to put more of this in your life,'" he adds. "We're here to trust that God is already with the prisoners, and wherever they are in their faith lives is an acceptable starting point."
Bennett estimates that since Alpha was introduced to Canadian prisons in 1996, more than 16,100 prisoners have taken an Alpha course. She adds that Alpha works with other ministries to try to ensure that prisoners who take the course are connected with a Christian organization once they are released from prison.
Dunwoody believes this is important and challenges Christians to accept ex-prisoners into their church communities.
"In our congregations, are we willing to offer hospitality to ex-prisoners, and show them how to follow Jesus and pray?" Dunwoody asks.
Bayne adds that there are 58 federal penitentiaries in Canada and more than 200 provincial jails. With the increased demand for Alpha in prisons, there is an increased need for volunteers with a heart for evangelism and prison ministry to help run the courses.
"The big thing that is needed is volunteers," he says. "There's still lots of potential in the country."
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