Who Wants to Encourage Somebody?

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22 

I've added a note from Carol at the bottom of this post.  Please read it too as it will inspire you to want to do this all the more!:)

In a previous post I shared what some of our ladies do with Kairos Prison Ministry.  If you missed it you can read about it here:  do-what-it-says-kairos-prison-ministry

Kairos Prison Ministry has a retreat coming up this April and one of the things they could use some help with are some homemade placemats.  All you need is an 11 by 17 piece of paper and some colorful pens, pencils or paints and a desire to encourage someone.  As you will see in our example below it doesn't even take any talent (so be encouraged by that).  But if you have some artistic talent, by all means use it for God's glory as you share it with someone who could use something beautiful and cheerful in their lives.

We need lots of them because they use 5 of these placemats per day for each resident they serve over the 4 day retreat. When Carol and Pam explained to me how much these placemats mean to the ladies that they serve, I knew I wanted to get my family involved in making some.  Even though we will not be going into the prison with Carol and Pam it is a small way that we can answer the call of Matthew 25:36 to visit the prisoner.

One of the things Carol told me is how the mothers who do not get to see their children very often will sometimes put their hand over the hands drawn on these placemats by other children and cry.  Maybe she has a child close to the child's age who drew the picture and it especially touches her. Being a mom myself that just about did me in so I suggested to my boys that they use their hand prints and share their ages for that reason. 

Would any of you out there be willing to make a few placemats for Carol and Pam to take into the prison for their April Retreat?  Maybe you have some children or grandchildren in your lives who would make some too. What a great opportunity to inspire your kids to give something meaningful to someone else during the lent season (or any season for that matter).  

 

So you can see that no special talent is required I wanted to share some of what we made.  



I have to tell you we had a blast doing these together. And what a simple way to speak some words of encouragment into a few lives who could stand to hear some uplifting words.

If you'd like to help. Just grab some 11 by 17 sheets of paper (Grover's Office Supply will sell it to you for 5 cents a piece) and let the Lord inpsire you as to what to do.  No lamenating is allowed and if you include names please only use the first name.  You can drop them off with Carol, Pam (their picture is on the last post about Kairos which you can see if you click the link at the top) or myself at church.

Thanks for all you do!

I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Matthew 25:36

Note from Carol...

What a wonderful way to go to prison without going physically. One big thing about these place mats is the residents get to take them back to their dorms (cells). Their possessions are inventoried, even the number of tp rolls they have (which they have to buy at canteen.) They are allowed a few books, Bible being one....and so the place mats are picked up and looked at over and over. Also, roommates who have not gone through Kairos, get to see what is written and a chance for the Kairos person to explain what they are all about. It is hard to imagine a world so limited. I wanted to make the point that place mats are very special.

Pam, Sheilah and I feel so blessed to have our church family behind us.
Carol