Dear John,
Now that we’ve wrapped another successful Second Chance Month, and we’re only a month away from our fiscal year-end, I’ve been praying and reflecting on this past year. I can’t help but take this opportunity to glorify God for all He’s accomplished through the ministry during what was, in many ways, a very challenging year for all of us.
The Lord took one of the most difficult realities of the COVID-19 pandemic—the need to maintain social distancing—and used it to spark creativity in all areas of the ministry. Departments of corrections we work with across the country called upon their own teams to advance bold technology changes that, under different circumstances, would have potentially taken years to implement. This conversion of innovation and bold action allowed us to continue ministering to people living in prison, and their families, while visitation simply wasn’t possible.
Born from a request from our California department of corrections partners, our new platform Floodlight, allowed us to provide inspiring content to bridge the gap when families, volunteers, and programs were unavailable to prisoners. What we didn’t anticipate was that Floodlight, which provides free Christian content that can be downloaded and shared on televisions and tablets in prisons, would be so popular! Now available in 48 states, it will continue even after prison doors reopen! God has used Floodlight to open doors for us across the country, and we continue to create original content and curate inspiring and educational resources from top content providers.
Some of the resources shared on Floodlight come straight from Prison Fellowship Academy, where we’ve been innovating as well. One challenge we’ve faced in implementing new Academy sites is the need to have volunteers within driving distance of the prison. Many prisons, however, are in remote spots that are hours from the nearest town or city.
During the pandemic we put together virtual Academy kits, which include all the technology necessary to host a Tier 1 Academy remotely. These kits are now allowing us to offer prisons in even the most outlying locations the opportunity to start new Academy cohorts, even where volunteers may not be available. Though the COVID-19 crisis closed prison doors, a new avenue for Academy expansion has opened up. To God be the glory!
