Wow! What a weekend

Jesus + 41 volunteers + 36 participants = Music...Sharing...Joy...Love...Miracles

It is really hard to describe a weekend such as this.  We laughed, we cried, we danced, we sang, we shared the love of Jesus with "the least of these".

The MPPC Middle School won the cookie competition by a landslide and will be rewarded with homemade cupcakes tonight after Simply Supper at church.  

We return for an instructional reunion on Oct 26 to fertilize the seeds planted over the weekend and then we keep on praying for more changed hearts.

Now the planning begins for Kairos #50 - March 6-9, 2014.  Please keep this in your prayers and expect me to ask for cookies, placemats, notes and prayer when that special Kairos time rolls around again.

Please pray for the replacement for Warden Anderson, she was a Christian with a real heart for Kairos and we pray that the Lord will send us another warrior!

Our first team meeting is December 14th, so I will be back with more info...

Blessings,

m

Written forms of Agape:  Posters, placemats and notes.

• Please no stickers or glitter!  
• When items are created by a child or youth please put age, it makes for great conversation.  
• Sign with first name only

Love Notes or Letters is another way to tell the candidates they are loved.  On Saturday each one is given a bag full of love notes with their name on the envelope.  (We, the volunteers write the names on the envelopes at camp on Friday night).   A bag full of encouragement and love wishing them peace & joy and sharing the love of Christ.  Address them to "Dear Sister in Christ"

Placemats are used for every meal served during the weekend.  The paticipants so enjoy seeing the drawings, scriptures, names and ages of the people who have taken the time to be part of this special weekend.

Throughout the weekend Posters made by Sunday school classes, church and work groups and individuals are hung on the walls of the community room to show more of God's abundant love offered by brothers and sisters in Christ.

Last night I had the pleasure of working with the PYC of Mt Pleasant Presbyterian Church.  They created some wonderful Agape.  Here are a few examples:

Forms of Agape: Prayer

Agape: from Greek meaning Love.  That is how webster.com defined Agape.  When you look at the word don't you also see agape, like with mouth agape.  God's pure and unconditional love for us can certainly cause one to respond with mouth agape.  He loves us no matter what we have done, who we are or how much we have.
Since the theme of Kairos is "listen, listen, love, love" we use the term Agape to refer to cookies, notes, posters, prayer and financial support.  Remember these are not Agape, they represent Agape.

Prayer:  Kairos #49 needs your prayer.

• We covet your prayers for the outside leadership, inside leadership, the women who will be participants, Warden Anderson and Chaplain Campbell as we prepare for this important weeked.
• You can sign up for the prayer vigil
• As soon as I figure out how, I will be putting the prayer vigil up for you to sign up to pray at particular time(s) during the weekend
• You can put your name on the prayer chain.  
• This is a beautiful visible representation of prayer and love.  Names of those who are praying during the weekend are written on paper strips which are stapled together and during the "You are not alone" talk inside team brings the chain into the room and surrounds the group with love and prayer.  

Peace & Blessings,
m

The prayer chain which circles the meeting room.  As it is brought in the only sounds you hear are gasps and sighs and wonder.

What is Kairos and Preparation Begins

Kairos is an ecumenical Christian ministry designed for use in state and federal men's and women's correctional institutions in the United States and throughout the world. The International Board of Kairos Prison Ministry, Inc., with headquarters in Winter Park, Florida, governs this ministry.

The purpose of KAIROS is to establish a strong Christian community among the residents of correctional institutions. This is done by the presentation of a 3-day short course in Christianity. It is presented by an interdenominational team of about 55 persons for a group of 42 residents. The chaplain carefully selects the inmates from the prison population. The ideal recruits are those residents who are presently the leaders in the institution. There, they become Christ's agents for change in their environment that ultimately can bring about change in the attitude and quality of life for the entire institution.

The primary goal of the KAIROS ministry is to teach those who attend the weekend to become part of a share and prayer group. This allows them to share their lives on deep spiritual level and pray for one-another.  http://www.kairossc.org/

Over the next few weeks I will share with you some information, thoughts and ways you can become involved with the upcoming Kairos weekend at the women's facility in Columbia.  I invite you to join me on this wonderful journey in sharing God's deep abiding love with some of His children who have been shown very little love in their lives. 

Team Preparation

On Saturday the Kairos #49 team met for the first training session to prepare for the upcoming weekend at Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institute October 10-13.  Luann Ziegler our servant leader shared her testimony to model vulnerability.  It is important for us all to be willing to show our vulnerability to these women we will serve at Camille.  We have to be real, honest and open to show and share God's love with "the least of these".

We discussed the #1 rule of the weekend.  Listen, listen, love, love.  We are not there to preach or to judge, we are there to listen and to show God's unconditional love.  Agape.

I will talk more about AGAPE and how you can participate by baking cookies, writing notes, making posters and praying for the volunteers and participants in future posts.  All those things are not Agape but represent Agape.

Peace & Blessings,

Martha