Three years ago,my husband Marvin and I met our first Angel Tree child. It was a lot of fun to shop for that certain little boy and then have the opportunity to pray with him and his grandparents. I remember that he lived part-time with his grandparents so his father could work while his mother was incarcerated. We allowed the story to end there but it didn't have to be that way.
I’ve learned that through my fellow greeter Patty Ryan.
Right after Christmas 2011 Patty asked me to go see the incarcerated mother of her Angel Tree child. At that time, Patty had chosen the same Angel Tree child for the past two years and had been pen pals for about a year with the mom.
Since then, we have made several trips to the prison and can truly say the Angel Tree mom is our friend. We always laugh, cry and pray together.
At some point Patty made contact with the prison Chaplain who allowed Blue Ridge to donate Bibles and other quality Christian growth books to their religious library. In addition, we have collected requested gospel music for the chaplains' music library, not to mention a few Blue Ridge messages on CD.
All of this came from Patty listening closely as the Holy Spirit nudged her to choose her Angel, asked her to write to the mother, visit and bring friends, contact the chaplain and make the effort to stay in touch with her Angel child-turned-teenager year round.
We look forward to our friend's release in a few years so that she can join us at Blue Ridge to worship with us. We want her to feel the security of knowing she has a home here with us.
This story is really Patty's and a few of us fellow greeters have been along enjoying the ride. Overall, it's God's grand plan of redemption available to each of us. My prayer is that this Angel Tree season, deeper relationships will be formed so that we can as a body of believers reach out into our communities and prisons with the freedom, love and hope found ONLY in Jesus Christ.
Corine recently stepped into leading the Angel Tree ministry at Blue Ridge, answering God’s calling for her to “build into the lives of those younger than myself.”
Angel Tree, a program of Prison Fellowship, reaches out to the children of inmates and their families with the love of Christ.