An Ark Valley Christmas
“Prison ministry is a ministry of presence.”
Last Christmas was a welcomed glimpse into life before the pandemic. With Covid restrictions lowered, many prepared to spend the holiday with their loved ones for the first time since the pandemic began.
Shopping malls were full of excited shoppers, and here at Woodmen, operations were underway to prepare for in-person Christmas services.
But things looked different for Woodmen’s campus at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility as Christmas approached. Instead of preparing for the holiday, the inmates and staff at Ark Valley were under complete lockdown.
Due to the isolated nature of the prison, the Delta COVID variant that hit the outside world in the fall had just made its way into Ark Valley weeks before Christmas. This resulted in inmates being unable to leave their rooms at any time. The gym, cafeteria, rec room, and even Woodmen’s on-site campus were closed until further notice.
Christmas was looking bleak at Ark Valley. No visitors were allowed, and the possibility of inmates buying gifts for one another was out of the question with the convenience store in the facility closed.
Howie Close, the pastor at Ark Valley, was left unable to connect with the members of his congregation face to face during the important holiday season. That didn’t stop him from wanting to do everything he could to show the people of Ark Valley that they were loved.
After brainstorming with a few other Woodmen staff members, an idea came to life. The hope was to deliver gifts bags full of goodies to each inmate at Ark Valley by Christmas. With Christmas only a week away, work began immediately. A mass order was placed for coffee mugs and journals sporting the Woodmen logo, bags and bags of candy were purchased, and thousands of Christmas cards were written.
A call was sent out to all of Woodmen’s ministry partners requesting help assembling the gift bags just a day before Christmas Eve. Weary of how many people would be able to help last minute, Taylor Rolfe, Ark Valley’s ministry assistant, was left speechless when over 25 people showed up.
An assembly line was formed, and gift after gift was packed. Before long, 1100 gift bags were assembled and loaded into a trailer, ready to be delivered to Ark Valley.
When Howie and Taylor arrived at Ark Valley’s gates with the gift bags, they fully expected the process of getting them into facility to be long and complicated. It was common for every item to be thoroughly searched before being let through the prison doors. It would take a miracle for the gift bags to make it in by Christmas.
But, after only a few hours, every single one of the 1100 presents were let through.
While Howie and Taylor were unable to get into the prison to hand out the presents, a few weeks after Christmas they began to receive letter after letter in the mail. Each one was a handwritten thank you card from the inmates and staff who received a present.
Some of the notes included photos of inmates holding matching coffee mugs and others enjoying the candy.
One of the guys at Ark Valley wrote in his note that he hadn’t received a single thing from the outside world in his 26 years at the facility.
“Prison ministry is a ministry of presence.” Taylor shares. “It’s so important to remind them that they are not forgotten and that they matter and are loved.”
Because of the people of Woodmen’s generosity, the men at Ark Valley received a beautiful reminder that they are loved and seen.
If you are interested in getting involved at the Ark Valley campus, click below to find out more!
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