Isn’t it nice to know that no matter how hard the past is, you can always begin again? You get the opportunity to start a new day with no mistakes in it yet. Your personal history has held you back, maybe for a lot of years, but you are ready to give up what you were for what you could become. But you’re not quite sure what your next steps might be.
Every month hundreds of AIC (Adults in Custody) step out of prison, paroled to a new life in your neighborhood. What would you like these new neighbors to be like? What experiences would have shaped their lives during those years behind bars? Do you hope for the best or do you actually do something to make a difference in those lives?
So what can YOU do? Why should you consider what you could ever do to influence an AIC? The answer is so very simple, but you must live your life in widening circles that reach out across the community and then the world.
Visions of Hope inherited a project that had stumbled to a stop during COVID. We took it on, made it bigger and gave it a new name. Since 2020 Fresh Start Backpacks have made their way into the hands of hundreds of men and women.
Imagine you have completed your required years as an AIC and today you are being released into a new life. As you reach that door to “freedom”, someone hands you an unexpected item. A backpack containing a suspicious bit of weight. You don’t open it as your enthusiasm for that exit takes all your consideration. Once outside, your ride (chosen by the Dept. of Corrections) now takes you minutes or hours to your pre-determined housing. Maybe during that ride, you have an opportunity to explore the backpack.
For Visions of Hope the concept of encouraging AIC is in our DNA. It’s what we do, It’s following God’s instructions. It’s including YOU in opportunities of ministry AND it’s YOU making personal discoveries.
Sometimes the little things in life mean the most. You unzipped the backpack and did a quick inventory. Basic hygiene items, socks, bible, journal, snacks, first aid, sewing kit. Wow, your new world includes a little bit of encouragement as you read the little card inside indicating total strangers were thinking of you as this was assembled. It says this was prayed over to pass on blessings and success! Really? Who does that?
Moving forward often has a lot to do with your mindset. This just made your day. You could go so far as to say, gratitude is an appreciation of abundance for these first moments in your new life. Your attitude went to gratefulness, and a sense of appreciation for what you have. The happiness made you less fearful of this new day. Once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things you lack.
Great story? What if we take away the imagination and bring reality? The certainty of these backpacks getting into needy hands is ensured. What’s missing is YOU.
Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it.
Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good.
Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame.
Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant.
Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder.
Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
Romans 12:9-13
Remember those widening circles reaching out across the world, mentioned earlier? Here’s how your make those:
- Provide funding for the items that fill those Fresh Start Backpacks.
- Help us find economical sources for those items. (Currently, each backpack = $30)
- Help us assemble the backpacks. (If funding is available, we do 360/yr.)
- Join in a prison visit! Meet those who, someday, might receive a backpack.
“Gratitude is closely related to worship;
it voices our joy and it also creates joy.”
– Gaylyn Williams