Sharing Your Faith when Writing Inmates

When you're first paired up with an inmate pen pal, review any information that came with the pen pal application. This includes letters from the inmates and written notes from the prison ministry or non-profit organization handlers. Be aware of the emotional background that inmates have because of the situation they're currently in.

Each inmate will have his or her own church or non-church background, religious experiences and beliefs or mindsets about Jesus Christ, the bible and other related topics. Some may have a hard heart towards the things of God due to the negativity they've experienced over their lifetime, perceived unanswered prayers and so forth. Some may operate in completely other mindsets such as those that require women to wear head coverings, believing the church became completely apostate in the late 1800's and that they should eat or drink or not eat or drink certain things. Others believe they should not celebrate holidays like Easter or Christmas.

Even though the inmate may have requested a pen pal for various reasons, he or she is still allowing you to be part of their life. Treat them with the level of respect you would give any human being. Just as you would not bombard a new person you are getting to know about their stance on salvation to avoid putting them naturally on the defense, you will want to avoid to doing so in your first letter.

Start by sharing your religious beliefs and keeping ownership of them. For example, "I am a Christian who was saved in ___ and I attend a (denominational/non-denominational church). I personally believe that Jesus is the only way, truth and the life." And leave it at that. You can follow it up as if you were having coffee with the inmate. Ask open ended questions such as "What are your thoughts about God?" or other generalities and let the topic go until you hear feedback from your new inmate pen pal.

Encourage open dialogue with the inmate and if the inmate doesn't want to talk about it, keep the focus on other things in the letter. Pray before you write each letter and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into the types of content you should include, the slant you should address each item with and scriptures you could include that are relative to the situation.

Temper your attitude of excitement or feelings of authority on any given topic by remembering you are dealing with a precious soul in the eyes of God and remembering your own negative experiences with religion in general and how it shaped your thoughts and beliefs over the years. Try to put yourself in their shoes and be compassionate and genuine in your letter writing.

Consider adding a small scripture or prayer at the top of each of your letters to set the tone of your letter, for both encouragement and direction of the content you add to the rest of the letter. If you run into theological questions you don't know the answer to, simply say, "That's a good question. I don't know. We can try to find out together what it means. I'll try looking up some stuff on my end and you can ask the Chaplain on your end." This keeps it positive and interactive. A simple, "I don't know, but I do know that God is good all the time and He will work out the things for the good of those that love Him when we allow Him to. I will keep the matter in prayer so that God's best intentions in this area of your life will be made known to you." This shows the inmate you heard, thought about and care about the situation, even if you may not agree with his or her standpoint on any one given topic.

Start your communication with the inmate through prayer and scripture before you start writing. Follow each direction you receive from the Lord for each letter you send out and you'll be effective in how God wants to use your letters in that inmate's life. The results are up to God. Your job is to remember to be compassionate and genuine in all you say through your letters.