I love how gardeners are so helpful and giving, sharing plants and knowledge. Those involved in prison ministry or inmate aftercare  have planted ministries (gardens) . Our gardens are each at a different stage of development.  God is the Master Gardener, who is at work inside each of us. In the movie The Shack, the Holy Spirit’s garden looked unkempt and disorganized, until we were shown its beauty and design from above.

“For when one person says, “I am with Paul,” and another, “I am with Apollos,” are you not ordinary people? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:4-9

Released for Good: We’re Rooting for You is all about encouraging and celebrating the beauty and design of each other’s gardens.

“A generous person will be prosperous, and one who gives others plenty of water will himself be given plenty.” Proverbs 11:25

“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.” Matthew 10:42

One of my ongoing heartaches as a veteran prison chaplain is the alarming number of individuals who are released from prison, only to return a while later.  I am convinced that our correctional system is not living up to its name by correcting those under its care, nor can it. 

True change in a person’s life can only take place when he or she enters into a relationship with God, through a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, His Son.  Jesus is indeed the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). In Him, that person “is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

Followers of Christ are not meant to function alone, but as members of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Romans 12:3-5). It is vital that fellow believers work together in a deliberate and organized way to provide a continuity of care for the follower of Christ who is determined to get out and stay out of prison. If a person reoffends, we lovingly pick up where we left off with him or her, and try again. Lines of communication should remain open. 

Vision Statement

Those determined to make this their final time in prison and become positive, contributing members of society will succeed through a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, helped all along their journey by a continuity of pastoral care.

Goals

1. To promote and encourage an awareness of, a healthy cooperation among, and strong prayer support for, all who are presently involved in frontline prison ministry or in inmate aftercare;

2. To inform and encourage all who wish to become actively involved in frontline prison ministry or in inmate aftercare.

I was a chaplain in a detention centre setting from April 1990 to March 2021.  I  pray that this website will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in prison ministry and aftercare.  

Rev. Carl Wake, Former Coordinating Chaplain, Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

I hold my credentials with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada and adhere to their Statement of Essential Truths and Code of Ethics.